Chuck vs the Leave
by Jimmy 144
Summary: Chuck and Sarah are told to rest. Casey, Mary and the Teams go after Fulcrum. Follows the story line of Chuck vs the Plan and is a sequel to Chuck vs the Trader. Chuck recovered. Chapter 19 Last minute operation. Chuck and Sarah in the Chapel.
1. Chapter 1 the Real Plans

Let us do something, while we have the chance.

Still don't own Chuck.

"Sometimes it helps to know that you got something to lose."  
--Agent Walker Episode 3.4

Chapter 1—the Real Plans

**West Side Medical**

Doc Weidman, Chuck's surgeon, came in to check on his patient. He reviewed the chart. He got Chuck to breathe in and checked his chest, the doctor began, "Okay Chuck, the surgery took a couple hours. The bullet went through the top of your left lung and broken through the top of the scapula and cracked it. We repaired your lung and stitched along the top of it. We are going to get you linked up with the pulmonologist," as the Doc looked at Chuck, "lung guys.

"There was still a chance that it could collapse. They will have you practice on an incentive spirometer. You may have seen one before," the Doc held one up. "It measures how much air you are inhaling." Chuck nodded; it was one of the tools that Kristen had been using.

Doc Weidman continued, "We also had to put a metal band on the top of the scapula to pull it together. When the bullet went through the top of the bone it split the bone. The metal band will help it heal. If after six months we see that the bone is healed, you can have it evaluated to see about taking the metal band back out." The Doc saw Chuck flinch at the idea of another surgery.

"Then, there were six knife cuts that required stitches. While we were doing those we checked your shoulder. One of the new cuts was in that area, so there are new stitches there. We took x-rays of your arm. That is still doing well. The other bullet wound to your side was doing okay, but there was a cut next to it. We stitched that. You may get some new seeping from the bullet wound. We did get our guys to check the bruise area on your head. It was on the other side of your head from what I understood were stitches from when you were pistol whipped. You had a pretty good welt there, but it has gone down. You know the normal cautions for head injury, follow them. We did re-examine the bruised area on your left side. Our radiologist thought that there is a hair line fracture on the seventh rib there. I think that matches what they found at Bethesda. Other than the bruise on your right side, the other bullet wound on your left arm and the cuts on your leg, there was nothing else we noted. Those wounds were healing as expected.

"So, you get a full appreciation of this. I generally work with the emergency room. In one day I normally don't get as many cuts, scrapes, broken bones, or bullet wounds that you have now. You must recuperate. You have to give these wounds time to heal. If I was still in the military, you would be under orders to take medical leave, but as it is I want you to take six weeks completely off. We will check you along the way." The Doc finished with "Any questions?"

Chuck shook his head, "Thanks." The Doc shook his hand then gave Ellie a hug and shook Devon's and Doc Adams' hands. He also shook the hands of Sarah, Mary and Casey.

Chuck heard Doc Adams say, "Don't worry we'll send a copy of your report and recommendation to his boss."

Sarah took Chuck's hand again. He could tell she was still a little shaken from listening to all that. Ellie was coming over after saying thanks to Doc Weidman. Chuck could tell she was about to unload on him. While Sarah was just looking at his hand, Chuck looked at Ellie. He said, "Later," and looked down at Sarah.

Ellie said, "I have to get back. I'll check on you later. Sarah, everything will be fine." Sarah got up and Ellie gave her a hug.

Devon came over and said, "Hang in there Bro. Got to go too." He gave Sarah a hug too.

Casey, Mary and Doc Adams went over and grabbed chairs to sit down. Casey checked the guards outside the room, shut the door and sat down. Casey started it, "Okay, if you can handle this, there are a few things we should go over real quick."

Chuck looked at Sarah and said, "Sure, what?"

Casey continued, "Okay, we know that Chuck has to be off for at least six weeks. Doc Adams thinks it should be longer…"

Chuck cut in, "Look, I know that I need to be off. What I haven't worked out is whether Sarah will take off the time with me. I really want her to, but I haven't been able to ask yet." He looked at Sarah, "Will you?"

"Of course," she nodded to Chuck and then looked at Casey, "that's what you wanted to know?"

"Yes, and let me say that I think you both need it," Casey concluded.

Mary then said, "But we needed to know what to do. We found enough from Maitland's computers on his boat to go after several of the Fulcrum agents that belonged to his chain. I think if we go after them now that we should be able to arrest most of them."

Sarah thought about that for a second, "Okay, I might be on leave but I want to know what is happening. I want to see the plans for each operation." She felt a slight squeeze to her hand. She looked over at Chuck, "No, I will not go on the operations." Turning back to Mary and Casey, "Mary, you'll be in charge of the teams. But there is one thing you need to consider.

"Chuck and I were talking about this before everything happened today. Eldie, Clay and Kristen are going to be out for a while. Looks like anything from a month to two or more. So our solution was to have Kayle take the lead of team four, Brad and Lea. That will put you down to three teams. It also means that Mary still leads one of the teams," Sarah ended looking at Chuck. She got him the glass of water from the tray.

Chuck took a sip of water and added, "Yeah, and it also means I still want Casey to make sure Mary is protected all the time. We got Fulcrum almost beat, but I don't think we have gotten the entire group under the Halverson's. Ask Dad to take a look at that.

"I'd like to see the plans too. But that's just to see if there is something else that might be happening," Chuck finished that as a nurse knocked on the door.

She came in the room and check Chuck's vitals. Turning to everyone, "We are going to take him up to one of the regular rooms. If you would, please gather your belongs and his. You can follow if you like."

While they were taking Chuck to his new room, he fell asleep. The same group filed into his new room. There was a second bed in the room. Casey had made sure there would not be another patient in the room. There were guards again posted outside the door.

Sarah looked at them, "I am going to stay here. Doc, did you get any idea when he'll be released?"

Doc Adams responded, "If everything checks out, he should be able to get out tomorrow. I can check him. The biggest thing will be to make sure he does the lung exercises. Then in about a week we need him to start a little physical therapy. We could have Dorothy come over and do that. She is qualified as a therapist."

Sarah said, "Okay that sounds great."

Mary was watching Sarah all the time. She scooted Casey and Doc Adams out of the room. She got Casey to the door, "Let me talk to her for a minute. I'll be right back to get you."

Mary went back over to Sarah. She took Sarah's free hand and asked, "You doing okay?"

Sarah looked up at her. She knew this was the beginning of the approach they were using to get the others to open up. She had even used it on Mary.

Mary put her hand on Sarah's shoulder, "You know you are on leave now. You need to relax. He'll be better." She smiled, "You know that shooting him was probably the…"

Sarah looked at Mary. Tears were starting to form, "Please don't say it. It felt like the worst thing I have ever done. Today was supposed to be our best day ever. I mean we were… Well, everything was going to…"

Chuck was waking up and heard the end of what Mary said and what Sarah had just said, "Sarah?" He tried to turn toward her. "Okay, that hurt. Sarah and Mary look, I know that was hard. I had to trust you to save us. Maitland was going to make it look like a boating accident. He was going to kill everyone. And so you know I will never forgive you for this, because there is nothing to forgive. I thank you for protecting us, like you always have. I love you and that will never end."

Sarah broke down at that point and put her head down on his chest and started crying. Mary's eyes were pouring out by then too. Chuck put both hands on Sarah's shoulders to hold her. Then he held thumbs up to Mary. Mary nodded and headed out the door.

When she got outside, Casey went right to her, "Everything okay?"

"Oh yeah," she pulled Casey close and hugged him. Casey stood there and wrapped his arms around her.

In a while Sarah came out of the room, a little red eyed. She said, "He went back to sleep. He made me promise to go get something 'good' to eat and a change of clothes for him."

Mary was happier, "Come on let's take a break. I'll fix us something to eat." As they went out they saw Ellie and let her know what they were doing.

**Casa Bartowski**

Back at the apartments, Mary outlined to the team members what was happening and sent a report off to Kelly and John. She made a big dinner for all. When it was ready, she had Casey serve it. Mary went to get Sarah who had showered and then took a nap. Ellie and Devon were back by then and said that everything was fine. Chuck was still asleep when they left.

The discussion at dinner flowed back and forth between the wedding preparations and the plans for taking the rest of Fulcrum down. Sarah explained to Mary, Alice, Lea, and Kristen the idea of getting apartments next to theirs. When she explained the situation to the group, they all agreed that seemed reasonable. She also, went through and made sure everyone was getting a housing allowance from their departments. Mary told her that they would take care of it.

**West Side Medical**

Sarah headed back to the hospital with Steven. They got up to Chuck's room and checked with the nurse. She said he was awake and trying dinner.

When they went in Chuck was nibbling on the food. Sarah could tell that he was having a problem holding up his arm to cut the food. She offered, "Here let me help." She took one attempt at a cut with the hospital knife and got one of hers. After cutting up the plate of food she was helping spoon it in.

Steven was almost laughing at this. He went over and closed the door. Steven asked, "Mary was asking about some run you wanted. What were you looking for?"

Chuck explained the details of what he was looking for. He told his dad that they were looking for more of the Halverson's top structure. He did not think the people they got in the raids included all of them. Steven said he understood and they would have the results the next day.

Chuck went to sleep again after dinner. Steven left and the team members stopped by through the evening to see how he was doing. Casey and Mary came back after cleaning up from the meal at the apartments. They stayed most of the evening. Ellie cleared with the hospital that Sarah would be there that night along with the guards that Casey had stationed around the hospital.

One of the nurses came in after everyone left and took Chuck's vitals. She reminded him that he could have additional pain relievers if necessary.

After she left Chuck looked at Sarah, "You know this is certainly not the way I expected to spend this night." Chuck tried to get up a little. His face twisted in pain.

"Chuck! Let me help," Sarah reach around him to help him shift positions and sit up a little more.

Chuck took advantage of the position, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. Chuck was not going to let go. While coming up for air, he did mange, "I love you forever."

Sarah's last comment was, "I love you too. But let's make sure you last that long."

The nurse came in to the room in another minute. She saw Chuck's disheveled hair. She said, "I'm sorry, we got an alert out at the station. One of your monitor leads must have come off."

**Casa Bartowski**

Mary was waiting for Casey. She was in the bed on her side watching him get ready. She asked, "Hey Casey, why would Sarah say today was supposed to be our best day ever."

Casey looked at her with his head moved slightly to the side in amazement, "Why would you think?"

"You're kidding?" her eyes got big.

Casey came over and sat down beside her, "Well, I guess I don't really know how the FBI works. But for you to understand a little about them, I'll tell you a little about it. Any more, you'll have to get from Sarah.

"In the military we don't fraternize. So a more senior officer is not to date or otherwise entangle themselves with a junior officer or an enlisted person. In the CIA world if you are someone's handler, it's against the rules to become romantically involved with that person. They fought against that for almost two years. It tore them apart several times.

"When we recruited you and the others to help, Sarah had been made a Director and Chuck was given a position equivalent to that under your grandpa. They were finally equals. So, since then, you have seen their attempts to get together."

"Oh no, you mean that ever since we got back from the first strike against the traffickers, the girls and I have been?" Mary's eyes were pleading with Casey.

Casey nodded his head. He thought he better not let this get out of control, "And you know why they were doing it, right? It was the right thing to do. You're not having nightmares now are you?"

"No, but…"Mary started.

Casey cut her off, "No buts. I'll give it to them. It shows you how important you and the rest of the team are to them and how much they care for you and the rest of the team. And how much you…"

Mary already had tears in her eyes, "How much what?"

Casey took her hand, "And how much I love you."

Mary looked at his eyes. She kissed him and wrapped herself around him.

_A/N Hope you enjoyed._


	2. Chapter 2 the Interruptions

Let us do something, while we have the chance.

Still don't own Chuck.

"Sometimes it helps to know that you got something to lose."  
--Agent Walker Episode 3.4

Chapter 2—the Interruptions

**West Side Medical**

The morning sun was coming in the room as Chuck and Sarah were unwinding from each other. The six o'clock nurse had already come in and did her checks. Several attempts at the most passionate kissing during the night ended in the nurse coming to check on the loose monitor connection. Sarah finally went over to the other bed. That arrangement did not last very long either. Chuck had woken up when the pain killers started to wear off. He heard Sarah wrestling with a nightmare and called her over. They spent the rest of the night wrapped in each others arms.

With the nurse out of the room, Chuck moved Sarah's hair back around her ear and reached in to kiss her, "Good morning, I love you."

Sarah kissed him back and said, "I love you too."

Chuck had to know, "Was that better last night. I mean no more nightmares?"

She kissed him again, "Yes, and thanks. It was terrible. I shot you and you went over board and I could not find you."

"Well, stay with me kid and we'll make those bad dreams go away," he said with a smirk. She gave him a little bump and started to reach for his toes. He responded, "No, please. Please. I don't think laughing is an option yet."

Sarah backed off and kissed him.

The nurse came in to the room in another minute. She saw Chuck's disheveled hair. She said, "I'm sorry, we got an alert out at the station. One of you monitor leads must have come off."

Sarah turned to Chuck, "She does that again and she is going to look like my old alarm clock."

Before the nurse left Chuck started to get up, "I need to go to the bathroom and then I'd like to try a shower."

While the nurse was getting Chuck ready, Sarah dodged into the bathroom and came back out. She had dressed. Chuck was amazed how beautiful she looked.

The nurse helped Chuck out of bed and put little saran-wrap like coverings on his bandages. She helped him over to the bathroom and showed him where to hook up his IV bag. He said that he could do it. Sarah walked over and said that she would help if he needed anything.

**Casa Bartowski**

Casey saw her lying next to him. She still looked as lovely as that first morning at her ranch. He moved over and kissed her. Saying, "Hey beautiful," he began kissing down her neck.

Mary held his face in her hands, "You know I love you. I can't think of a day without you anymore."

"I can't either," was the muffled reply as Casey started again. She wrapped herself around him.

Much later Mary looked at the clock, "Come on, we have to get up."

Casey rolled out of bed, "Okay."

Mary knew she was making progress. In the past Casey's answer would have been a grunt.

**West Side Medical**

Mary knocked on the door of Chuck's room. She poked her head in, "Hey, we got some breakfast for you and a breakfast thermos of coffee."

Sarah and Chuck looked up from Chuck's breakfast tray, "Food. Real food."

Mary came in with the bag of goodies and the black gold. Sarah and Chuck were smiling.

Chuck began, "Thanks for saving us."

Sarah added a hug and, "Really, thanks for bringing this."

Casey looked at Chuck, "Well, you look better this morning. How was last night?"

Chuck turned his head to Sarah, "It was close but no one died." Chuck looked back at Casey with a smile.

Sarah poked him and explained, "The nurses kept coming in to check on him. If he even moved, the lead on the monitor would come off and they'd be in here in a second…Okay, real good response, but a little annoying." Sarah's shoulders shagged a little.

Mary was watching the exchange and shook her head. She poured the coffee and gave each their cup. She asked, "So any news on getting out?"

Just then Doc Weidman came in. Doc Adams was right behind him. Doc Weidman said, "Sounds like that was my cue. Oh, thank you." He got a cup from Mary. As he was looking at the chart, "You used the restroom this morning?" He saw Chuck nod. "Did you write down the results of your lung exercises?" Chuck gave him the clipboard. After doing a few checks himself the Doc said, "Okay, I'll sign off that you are released. There are a few things to go over…" Doc Weidman spent the next couple minutes making sure Chuck knew what all he had to do and what was expected. Finally he concluded, "The nurses will bring you the release forms and you can leave."

Mary's eyes got wide. She tugged at Casey and whispered, "We need to get the apartment ready." Casey nodded. Mary said to Sarah, "We'll go on and get the apartment set up for you."

Chuck looked over, "Is Kristen okay?"

Sarah looked at Mary, "We will not make her move out."

Casey said, "We are going to get this fixed. You're getting your apartment back." He turned to leave the room, "The guards will be with you on your trip. Give us ten to make sure they have everything ready."

Casey and Mary went out of the room with Mary smiling at Casey.

It was another two hours before Chuck was starting toward the door of his room. Sarah had called for help from Ellie and Devon. Both assured her that it would not take much more time. Most people did not make it out of the hospital till the afternoon. Chuck got his ride in the wheelchair to the front door of the hospital. Chuck walked with a little assistance from Sarah out to the van. Chuck felt a little disappointed that he would not have a race with the driver to get Sarah's door.

**Casa Bartowski**

Casey was surprised to find that Sarah had already started working the apartment above Ellie and Devon. The occupants were moving out that day. The new lease was effective that day and he could have the apartments as soon as the residents got checked out.

Meanwhile, Mary and the girls were going through themselves to make sure that everything was perfect at the Chuck and Sarah's new apartment. Kristen was even helping by pointing out the easiest places to put the new oxygen machines for Chuck. While he was to use them for only a couple more days, Kristen said it would be easier than carrying around a portable.

Casey let Mary know when they left the hospital. The apartment was perfect and everything was in its place. Next to it, Mary had a luncheon for everyone in the conference room. The next room was readied for Kristen in case the new apartment was not ready that night.

The van pulled up to the curb in front of the apartments. The guards got the doors for Chuck and Sarah. Chuck was trying to go back around for Sarah but she beat him to the front of the van. He was trying to walk and hold her hand, but she helped him steady himself at the start of the apartment's archway.

Chuck said, "Okay, little weak. Sorry."

"Come on, I'll help. Here let me," Sarah said as she got his arm and helped him walk into the courtyard.

Mary, Casey and Steven were there. Mary said, "Anything we can help you with?"

Sarah looked at Chuck, "Thanks, we have it."

Mary went on, "We have the apartment ready for you. The other apartment is being cleared out."

Casey added, "The lease that you worked is final today. As soon as the current residents are out, we will take over. The girls picked out some furniture on-line and we made arrangements for its delivery this afternoon."

Mary said, "You don't have to worry about Kristen. If the apartment is not ready, she'll sleep in the next room."

Sarah smiled, "You guys are so great. Thank you."

"We'll have lunch over at the conference room. If you would like to join us, it will be ready in about thirty minutes," Mary finished.

Chuck steadied himself and said, "We'll be over in a moment. Thank you."

When Chuck and Sarah got to the door and opened it, Chuck said, "You know it was not supposed to be like this. I had always envisioned a dinner like we set up for Devon and Ellie, and me almost carrying you over the threshold."

"I know. Me too. But that part will have to wait a month. Right now, I am thankful that I got you home and we can be together," Sarah was looking down.

Chuck put his hand under her chin and pushed her hair around the back of her ear. He bent down and kissed her. It lasted for quite awhile until they heard clapping in the background. Chuck looked up and waved his hand. He pulled Sarah through the door and closed it.

Chuck and Sarah collapsed on the couch. Chuck said, "It really does look nice."

Sarah looked around the room, "Yes, they really did a great job."

Chuck looked over at Sarah, "Are you happy with it."

"Yes. You know this is the first place that I can actually call my home, since I was…well, I don't remember," Sarah was smiling at Chuck. She turned and kissed him. "I love you."

Getting to the apartment was a little more than Chuck expected. He had to rely on Sarah to make it. Chuck held Sarah close to him, "Why am I so tried?"

Sarah said, "Well maybe it's because you were suppose to stay mainly in bed for the next couple days. But I'll check with Doc Adams. Here is the oxygen tube. Remember you need to keep this on most of the time. And that's the portable. I'll take it up stairs for you when we go to lunch."

Chuck put the breathing tube on. He sat back and took a few deep breaths. "Okay, that helps." He took Sarah's hands and held them. He just stared at her.

"What?" Sarah finally asked after his gaze would not move. She smiled at him.

"That," he pulled her hands to his chest and her along with them, "I love your smile." He kissed her. Moving his head from side to side, he tried desperately to kiss her like her wanted.

When he started to take off the breathing tube, she stopped him. "No, leave it on. You need to keep that on for a while." She continued to kiss him lightly and gently on his lips and down his chest. She looked up at him, "I want you to heal." They stayed on the couch a while holding and kissing each other.

When it was time to go to the conference room, Sarah took the portable up to the bed room and came back for Chuck. Reaching the bedroom, Sarah went to the restroom. Chuck looked at the time and got the portable. He was ready when Sarah came out.

They got to the conference room and everyone was crowding around to say they were happy he was back and to get well soon. Chuck and Sarah finished their lunch.

Chuck stayed seated and said, "Thank you everyone, especially Mary, Casey, Alice, Lea, and Kristen for getting the apartments all straightened out."

Sarah stood, "As you probably know, I am going to take leave while Chuck heals." She smiled, "And we get married. You are all invited to that." Everyone clapped at that. "Mary is going to be in charge of the teams while I am on leave. I know there is still a lot to do. I am sure you'll do fine. Thank you again for everything."

Chuck and Sarah got their laptops out and started to check things. Mary went over to Steven, "What have you and Liz been able to put together on the remaining Fulcrum agents? And did Chuck ask you to check on the traffickers too?"

Steven said pointing to the screen, "The model shows three concentrations of Fulcrum agents related to Maitland's organization. One in Seattle, one down in Oregon which is split between Portland and Salem, and one in San Diego. The San Diego group may have been involved in sending that boat to get you. The boat came from their docks.

"We are still running the request that Chuck put in. But from the earlier runs there were other traffickers in the cities we hit. It did not appear that we got them all. But like I said that model is still running. Since we have volumes of data more, the run will not complete until tomorrow.

"Chuck and I were working on the speed, but did not get a new version built," Steven concluded.

Chuck looked up at that point, "Hey, I am working on it."

Mary moved closer to see what names were on the screens. She asked, "So, what information do you have with each of the Fulcrum names?"

Steven showed her. They began to divide up the planning between the three remaining teams.

Ellie and Devon came up to the conference. Ellie said, "Hey, we really did not know whether we were allowed to do this, but we wanted to check on Chuck before we headed to work. We work late tonight but tomorrow let's get together and go over the wedding plans. Mary, you and Casey are invited. And Dad, if you can come, please do."

Chuck thought everything was going fine until Devon started looking at his eyes. Devon got Chuck by the arm, "Bro, I think we need to get you to the other oxygen tanks. Have Ben or Dorothy get this tank checked. I don't think it is working for you. Come on."

They all went right over Sarah and Chuck's apartment. Devon checked the equipment in the bedroom. He said, "Here use this. You feel a little better?"

Chuck's eyes were beginning to open again, "Yes, I feel a lot better."

Ellie was not that happy, "Sarah, if you have any other problems, call us please."

Sarah was a bit shaken, "Sure, thank you."

Everyone said his or her goodbyes.

With Chuck already in bed and Sarah got in with him. Chuck turned over and said, "I'm sorry I scared everyone, especially you. I'm alright. It must have been that tank. Are you okay?"

Sarah wrapped her arms around him, "Yes. I'm just glad you're better now." She moved her arm to a better position and heard him grunt low and hard. "Chuck, Chuck!" She reached over to check on him. "Chuck, are you alright?"

"Sarah, it hurts really bad. I can hardly breathe. Ah ah, help." Chuck's mouth was open but the air was not moving through it.

Sarah put her ear to Chuck's chest while getting the phone, "Casey, get help. Chuck's in trouble. He can't breathe. Hurry, please."

Casey got Mary's arm and went running out to the courtyard. He called to one of the guards, "Get the van with emergency lights ready now." Seeing Devon still in the courtyard, he called out, "Chuck's in trouble he can't breathe."

Devon looked back over his shoulder, "Hon, get our bags. Chuck's in trouble."

Devon, now bag in hand, went running up to Chuck and Sarah's bedroom. He got out the stethoscope and listened. Turning to Ellie, he said, "Lung has collapsed. We need to get it equalized."

Ellie got some gauze with a little alcohol and wiped a place. She was crying a little, "Chuck baby, this is going to hurt a little but you have to hold still." She began to remember the numerous times Chuck came home with terrible scrapes and cuts after defending Morgan for some reason or another. It was the typical lead in to scrubbing the wound.

Devon was fast. He cut the hole and pushed in the tube to equalize the pressure.

Sarah saw that Chuck did not move but there were droplets coming down from the closed eyes. She ran her hand through his hair again and again.

Devon said, "You're going to be fine, Bro. We'll get you to the hospital. They can stitch up your lung again. It will be fine."

The guards had come in the bedroom with a stretcher and carried Chuck out to the van. On the way to the van, Devon turned to Casey. "Hey, I don't want to tell you how to run things, but you need to have the tank checked. It might not have been the direct cause, but I bet you it contributed. We'll be fine taking him to the hospital. Ellie will arrange that the guards can stay and get him a room so that Sarah can stay with him."

Casey told Sarah that they were going to stay behind and check things while they were still fresh. Mary stayed with Casey. They called Doc Adams and Dorothy to make sure they were on their way to the apartments. It was another ten minutes before they arrived. It did not take long. When Doc Adams and Dorothy both pointed to where the portable was they supplied, they checked the tank Chuck had used. They quickly found out the other tank was one that the good Kathy Murdock had 'fixed' for Kristen.

**West Side Medical**

Doc Adams called Sarah just as Chuck was being taken into the hospital. Sarah passed the phone to Devon. Doc Adams said, "Devon, the tank was sabotaged. Chuck was not only, not getting enough oxygen, there may have been a poison in the mix. We are headed to our lab to see what it is." Devon's face went from the normal smile to a serious scowl.

Sarah asked, "What is it?"

Devon looked at Ellie and shook his head, "Just a minute, Sis and I'll explain." Devon put the phone back up to his ear, "Listen, check for hydrogen fluoride. It is real nasty stuff and could be the reason."

When they were inside the emergency room, Doc Weidman came up to the group. He said, "We are all set."

Devon held up his hand, "We got a complicating factor. The gas tank he was using at lunch may have had poison in it. It is being checked. The reaction and the timing correspond to hydrogen fluoride. But they are checking."

"No problem, we'll do a swab while we are in there and check. I can treat him for a low concentration of HF. But let me know as soon as your folks find out," Doc Weidman started wheeling Chuck away.

Sarah let Chuck's hand go, mouthing I love you. Chuck smiled back at her.

Sarah turned around to Devon, "Is he going to be alright?"

Devon got Sarah and Ellie into a side waiting room off the emergency room. He started, "Okay, let me tell you what I know and what I think. We know his lung collapsed. That is an occasional side effect from a punctured lung. Sometimes the puncture opens back up or a new hole opens nearby as a result of weakening the wall of the lung tissue.

"But in Chuck's case, the air tank he was using at lunch was sabotaged. Ben said that Chuck was not getting enough oxygen and it could include poison. I thought it sounded like hydrogen fluoride. It could weaken the area in a low concentration and in the right mix would not be noticeable to Chuck or those around him."

Sarah asked again, "But is he going to be alright?"

Devon gathered both of them up, "I don't know Babe. I am not going to lie about this, it could be bad. We just have to wait and see." Devon helped them sit down.

Sarah sat with her head in her hands, _'Please. Please. This can't be happening. He was resting. Everything was going okay. We were doing so well.'_

Sarah's cell phone rang, "Yes, okay that will help. Here's Devon."

Devon got the phone. He grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled a note. "Yeah, I got it. Thanks Ben. I'll let them know." Devon gave the phone back, "Its hydrogen fluoride, very low concentration. I'll go let them know. I'll meet you in recovery."

It was another hour before Devon and Doc Weidman came into the recovery room. Doc Weidman went to Sarah and Ellie, "He'll be out in a minute. There was a small perforation near the previous stitches. We fixed that. We also used a bit of a base spray to neutralize the remaining hydrogen fluoride. We took a swab of another area of the lung and we are sure the spray worked. We will keep him in the critical care room.

"So from today, he has two new incisions. There is the one that Devon made and then a new one we made to do the repair. There are two other things. First if he can go to the bathroom in the morning, we will send him back with you. The hospital is not the place for him to recover. Your apartment will be better, less germs. Second the mandatory sick leave is now two months." Doc Weidman added one thing with a smile, "Lastly, please keep the bad guys, whoever they are, away from him for a while."

Devon smiled back and gave him a pat on the back, "Thanks man."

Chuck was wheeled into a critical care room and Sarah went to him. She was surprised how pale he looked. She bent over to embrace him and then settled to the seat next to him and held his hand.

Ellie checked on Chuck and then Sarah. She said, "Sarah, he looks like he will be alright. Don't worry we'll take good care of him. Are you going to stay the night?"

Sarah said, "Yes, I can't leave. Ellie, thank you and Devon for all you did. If Devon had not noticed that something was wrong after lunch, he might…"

Ellie interrupted, "But he did, and everything will be fine. You alright?"

Sarah answered, "Yes, thank you."

Devon said, "Hey Sis, I'll let Ben know what's happened. See you later."

Ellie and Devon left. They had their shift to start and would be back to check in on them. Sarah checked in with Casey. They decided that it was okay to have Mary and the teams continue the planning. She would be back to check on the plans the next day.

When Sarah got done talking to Casey, Chuck started to wake up. He felt someone holding his hand and looked over to see his blond angel. Chuck said, "Hi there. Are you okay?"

Sarah rubbed her eyes again and said, "Fine. How are you doing?"

Chuck saw her tears and answered, "I think, better than you." He tried to move and leaned back, "Ah…"

Sarah got up, bent over and kissed him.

"Better," Chuck said. "You know, I only want to hold you. I mean...yeah, but I feel like I've missed you and now and only want to hold you. Sorry, rambl..."

Sarah almost climbed in bed with him. She wrapped herself around him. She could feel the tension from his body go as he relaxed. He fell asleep in her arms.

**Casa Bartowski**

Kristen heard what happened to Chuck and that he had gotten the portable tank that was meant for her. She went into the next room and was seated by the window rocking back and forth. Mary went over to Kristen. She said, "Kristen he is going to be alright. They operated and fixed the hole. He'll be fine."

Kristen answered, "I know but I should have had it not him. He has been through too much. Sarah needs a chance too. All they ever do is watch over us."

Mary held her face up, "No. Don't you start thinking that way. If it had been you, you would have likely died from getting too much HF in your lungs." Mary took Kristen's hand, "Come on let's finish moving everyone into the apartments."

The remainder of the day was spent moving the girls into the new apartment. Everyone chipped in. Mary and Casey helped Alice, Lea and Kristen. No one let Kristen pick up anything. LT hovered over Kristen making sure she got everything from her old apartment and everything was put where she wanted it. With everyone working on it, the job was done before nine o'clock. Mary told everyone that she would have a late breakfast ready in the morning. She sent a text message to Sarah to let her know.

**West Side Medical**

Chuck was kept in the critical care unit. Chuck was asleep with Sarah sitting next to him. Ellie and Doc Weidman came to check on them. Ellie said, "I have you set up to stay here. When you want, the nurses will move in an extra bed for you. I got your evening meal set up for you both."

Sarah said, "Thank you. Is he really going to be alright. I mean will he have problems after this?"

Ellie came over to Sarah and put her hand on her shoulder. She was not sure what Doc Weidman was going to say. He finished his checks and said, "He'll be fine. Yes, this is a setback. He really will have to rest. He'll be asleep most of today. Tomorrow, I do want him out of here. We will have him pumped full of antibiotics, but your apartment will be better. With both Doc Adams and Nurse Watts you should be able to handle it. He will be on a higher level of pain medication for a couple days. If you absolutely have to have him do some review or reading, you'll have to plan ahead and be ready when he is awake. You need to know for the next week, it is possible that this could happen again. You have any problems call."

After he left Ellie stayed a little longer. She asked, "Are you going to be okay?"

Sarah answered, "I'll be fine."

Ellie said, "Look I know everyone called about coming over to say hi, but we had to limit it to just you. Devon and I will be around until midnight. We'll check in on you."

Sarah nodded.

Chuck woke up at couple times that evening. Each time he only wanted to check on Sarah and tell her how much he missed her. The last time he woke that night, he saw Sarah in the bed next to him. He watched her a little and could tell she was having bad dreams again. After taking a drink he managed, "Sarah, Sarah, are you awake? I'm sorry but can you come in bed with me?"

Sarah looked at him and said, "Chuck, I don't know if that is a good idea."

He waved his hand to motion her to the bed. "Sarah, I am not going to let you go through those dreams again. Please come over."

Sarah got in bed with him at the same time Ellie showed up.

Chuck looked at his sister, "Look, big favor, make sure it is okay for her to sleep with me." He raised his eye brow.

Ellie said, "Sure, you need her. I'll make sure the nurses know." She smiled at him as she rubbed his head. "You guys take care. I'll see you in the morning."

There was a chorus of "Goodnight," as Sarah and Chuck snuggled closer together.

**Casa Bartowski**

Mary and Casey retired to Casey's apartment. Casey poured a couple drinks. Mary had a sip and said, "I can hardly believe that happened to Chuck."

Casey looked at her, "You have to…well, you have to realize that the people we are after think nothing of life." He took another sip, "The Ring will be worse." He poured her a little more. "That's why I keep trying to tell you that you have remember why. I don't want you…look I love you and I am selfish. I don't want you hurt or worse. Okay?" He downed his drink and poured another.

She down hers and held out her glass. Nodding her head while he poured her another, she said, "You have to come back too. I love you." She took a drink, "You know you did such a…noble thing to make sure the girls got their apartment and most importantly Chuck and Sarah got theirs back."

Casey raised his glass, "It was only right."

They snuggled to together as they finished their drinks. Later after a shower, Mary put her favorite teddy on. She got into bed with Casey and said, "I'll show you what's right."

_A/N Hope you enjoyed. Right, no slack._


	3. Chapter 3 the Discussion

Let us do something, while we have the chance.

Still don't own Chuck.

"Sometimes it helps to know that you got something to lose."  
--Agent Walker Episode 3.4

Chapter 3—the Discussion

**West Side Medical**

Chuck and Sarah felt the morning sun coming in the room as they were cradled in each other's arms. Chuck had gotten Ellie to make sure that Sarah could be in bed with him. Ellie thought he needed the attention but he was trying to make sure Sarah did not have another nightmare. The nurses gave in just a couple times to wake him and give him another pill. The IV did most of it, but Doc Weidman had prescribed an antibiotic that Chuck said looked like a horse pill. The painkillers were having their effect. Chuck when to sleep very quickly after taking the pills.

Chuck was able to move Sarah's hair back around her ear and kiss her, "Good morning, are you okay?"

Sarah kissed him back and said, "I am fine. Thanks for getting Ellie to do that. I love you."

Chuck smiled, "I love you too. No more nightmares?"

She kissed him again, "None. How do you feel?"

Chuck blinked, "Well, I guess blissful. I feel good all over but I can tell my chest really hurts. Right now, that is just a dull pain." He saw her looking sad and said, "Hey, better living through chemistry right?"

She started to move for his feet.

He laughed, "Go ahead. I don't think I'll feel it."

Sarah came back and kissed him, "You know you are incredible."

"Yeah, and yesterday I was going to prove that," he sighed.

"Me too," she smiled.

There was a knock at the door and the nurse came in the room, "Time for a quick check and your next pill." After she checked him she gave him a pill. She said, "One more thing, you need to go to the bathroom before you leave. Would you like to try now?"

Chuck paused, "Yeah, sure."

The nurse went to get the bed pan. Chuck immediately started to get up. Sarah had to get up and help him. Between the nurse and Sarah, Chuck made it to the bathroom.

The nurse asked, "Can you do this or do you need us to stay?"

His face went red, "Let me try first. I'll call for help to get back to bed." Chuck was happy that he was able to complete the task and get back to the door with some dignity still in place.

The nurse and Sarah helped him back in bed. Before the nurse left, "Don't forget, you still need to do the breathing exercises and record the results." She walked out the room as Chuck started.

Chuck finished the exercise and Sarah recorded the result. When he leaned back in the pillow, he fell asleep again. Sarah took a shower, got dressed and sat in the chair next to Chuck. She held his hand as they waited.

**Casa Bartowski**

Casey was awake and looking at her. He kissed her gently, "Hey beautiful, you stay here. I am just going to check on Chuck."

Casey finally got through to Chuck's room and Sarah answered, "Hey, how's he doing? The doc see him yet? Okay, give us a call before you head out and we'll have everything set." He saw that Mary wanted to talk and gave her the phone.

Mary took it, "How are you doing? We were going to have a late breakfast for everyone. We can wait for you. Oh, it won't be a problem. There's a couple things we need to talk about when you get here. Okay, see you then."

Mary hung-up the phone, "Sarah said the doc was just walking into the room. She'll call."

**West Side Medical**

Doc Weidman came in the room. He was followed by Ellie, Devon and Doc Adams. He went through the normal checks and looked at the lung exercise chart. Chuck started to stir and woke up saying good morning to everyone. Doc Weidman said, "We are going to send you home this morning. You wouldn't have to wait around to be released, because this time we set it up that you'll stay a patient to us while at home. But this time you have to keep the breathing tube on all the time. Your volume," he point to the exercise chart, "has gone down by 200 milliliters. Until that gets better, the tube stays. There are a few things to go over…" Doc Weidman spent the next couple minutes making sure Chuck and the others knew what all he had to do and what was expected. Finally he concluded, "Okay, here's the form to sign and you can head home."

Chuck signed the form and Sarah called Casey. Doc Adams went out with Weidman.

When Sarah got off the phone, Ellie asked Sarah, "Are you doing okay?"

"Better. Thank you both for what you have done," Sarah got up and gave Ellie and then Devon a hug.

Ellie held her a little, "Okay, remember that we'll do dinner tonight. But we'll bring it over to your apartment. Is that okay?"

Sarah answered, "That would be great, thank you."

"Okay. We have our shift, but if you need us call." Ellie and Devon went back out to work.

Doc Adams came back with a nurse and wheel chair. Chuck had fallen back asleep and he had to be woken to get in the chair. The guards use the wheelchair out to the van and then helped him to get in the van.

Chuck looked at Sarah when she got in, "You know it used to be a race to see whether I could get your door before the driver or the guards. Now I can't even get mine."

Sarah stroked his hair, "It's going to get better." She kissed him gently as the ride back to the apartments started.

**Casa Bartowski**

With a guard on one side and Sarah on the other, they took Chuck back in the apartment. Casey and Mary were already there.

Mary began, "Okay we changed things a little. The couch has been pulled out into a bed and we put a regular mattress on it. The video systems are hook to the conference room so you can review things here or in the bedroom. We have a few meals ready for you in the refrigerator and will get anything else you need.

"Doc Adams and Dorothy are going to check Chuck and get him ready for here. So, if you would please join us in the conference room. We'll brief you on the plans." Mary looked at Casey to see if he had anything else.

He shook his head.

Chuck looked over at them and said, "If I am not going up there, I still like to listen. And one more thing, it's been too long since the Ring has shown itself. While they may have decided to wait for us to eliminate Fulcrum, that they would leave us function this long without another counterstrike is surprising. Casey, I think it would be good if you double the protection for each of these strikes." He motioned toward Mary and held up three fingers for Casey to see. Casey nodded.

Sarah said she would be right up after Doc Adams came. After making sure Chuck would be okay, Sarah went up to the conference room. Mary started going through the plans they had put together. Sarah had a couple comments about the pre-surveillance and the timing for the arrests. She looked at Casey and he nodded that he would incorporate Chuck's recommendation.

Mary said that she still wanted to talk with Sarah. Sarah was not sure what had happened. Mary took Sarah in the next room shut the doors and locked them. Sarah asked what was wrong.

"Well, it's not that it is wrong, it is very, very, very right," Mary smiled. "I need some…well, I don't know what. John said he loved me."

Sarah's eyes opened wide. Sarah first asked, "Well, you love him, right?"

Mary answered immediately, "Oh yes. I don't know what I would do without him now."

"Then, the problem is…let's see, he hasn't said anything else?" Sarah asked.

"To be fair, he only said it the night before you came back from the hospital with Chuck. We really have only been talking about the apartments and the teams. I mean well, you know, I got him past grunting, but to get him past two sentences in a row is still a challenge," Mary stared at Sarah with her eyes crossed and they both started laughing.

"So, what do you want? You know you could be creating a monster, changing John Casey from the grunting beast to the chatter box that never ends," Sarah was holding her sides at the concept.

"Well, I want what you and Chuck are getting, the chance to settle down and have kids. I don't want to do this forever," Mary got out after she settled down.

"Oh wow," Sarah thought about it. "We'll help you in any way we can. But you have to know that John has to ask you. I mean we can't…"

Mary stopped her, "Oh, I know. It just would not be right. I think he would have real problems, and then we would too, if somehow someone got him to do it. But I wonder about him sometimes. He is so tied up in regulations and policy that I do not know whether he would be okay with it. I mean Chuck still has him as my protector 24X7."

"Good point. Let me talk that over with Chuck and see what we can come up with. I'll let you know." Sarah acknowledged.

"Ah, one more thing so you know. Kristen was pretty upset that Chuck got the bad tank instead of her," Mary said.

Sarah looked like she could hardly believe it.

"I think I took care of it. But it still might come up if you keep doing those night sessions." Mary finished.

"Wow, do you think we need to?" Sarah asked.

"No, I think we are okay. You need to take care of Chuck." Mary concluded.

Sarah smiled, "Thank you so much for getting the apartment set up."

"You're welcome. You guys go get some more rest. I'll have the final plans later this afternoon. You can do one more check then. And of course, when we are out in the field, we will be live with the video in the bedroom or living room." Mary got up.

Sarah came over and gave her another hug, "Thank you." She went back to check on Chuck and see if there was anything new from Doc Adams.

Doc Adams was waiting for her. He explained what he and Dorothy had agreed to do. Chuck was fine. Dorothy would check in with them in the morning, noon, and late afternoon. He would stop by in the morning.

Sarah talked with Chuck about the problem Mary had. Chuck agreed that they could do something, but asked Sarah whether it would make more sense to make a change after the current operations were over. She agreed that with the plans almost complete, it would be risky to introduce a change now.

Chuck was settling into his bed. He looked over to Sarah and said, "I am really sorry. I don't want to sound like this is whining, but I still feel like…"

Sarah was over with him in a second, "It is okay. You have to recover. I know, I understand, and I do too, but you have to rest."

"I know that you are going to have things to do. And I can't just have you stay in bed with me. But anytime you want to come over, please do," Chuck closed his eyes as Sarah kissed him. He fell asleep after that.

Later in the afternoon Dorothy came over and ran Chuck through a normal examination. After that Chuck and Sarah watched the review of the final plans on the video screen. Sarah did not make any changes. Chuck agreed and told Casey the protection plan looked solid too.

Ellie called Sarah and told her that she and Devon did get off early and she was making dinner for six. Ellie was going to get Casey, Mary and her dad to join them for dinner. When they got Chuck and Sarah's apartment, Devon said, "Hey guys, Ellie wants to ask about the wedding. And we can do a little of our planning too."

Filing into the apartment Ellie went over to greet everyone. Mary and Sarah joined Ellie in the kitchen.

Devon asked, "Hey Bro, you doing okay?"

Chuck turned over, "Sorry, it takes a little to turn yet."

Devon quickly said, "Wow, okay we'll join you. Are you doing alright?"

"Well, the pain relievers were starting to wear off just before you came over. I took another set of pills, but it will be a few more minutes before they kick in," Chuck explained. "And no, I don't want everyone to come over and see how I am doing. Dorothy just checked a little bit ago. So enough of my pincushion status and me. How has married life been?"

"Great," Devon held his glass up to Ellie. "The honeymoon was good. Actually it was awesome. And we are doing very well."

Chuck knew too well what the next part of the conversation would entail. He raised his hand; she was after all his sister. Chuck said, "That's great. I am glad it is working." Chuck immediately thought, _'That did not come out right, change topic now.'_ He shifted to the wedding, "So, I do want you to be my groomsmen. Is there anything we need to do?"

Devon spoke up, "Well, you two ought to go downtown and get your marriage license set up."

Chuck started thinking about that, _'Will she even do it, what if they ask for her birth certificate, her real name.' _Chuck looked up, "Sorry, what?"

Devon repeated, "I said if you have an updated passport you can use that. I bet Sarah has one."

'_Oh, saved again.'_ Chuck said, "I am sure she will." Chuck looked over at Casey, "Will you set up the transportation for everyone, or do we need to?"

"I'll get it. I would just for you two, but with your bosses coming. I'll probably have a small staff to set this up," Casey acknowledged.

"Awesome, who are your bosses?" Devon asked.

"Let us see if they are going to make it first." Chuck replied. "So, what else?"

Casey added, "Last time, we had to get you guys measured. And that was for the second outfit at the same store. We'll probably have to do that again. You and Sarah need to make sure of what you want for tuxedos. And no pastels."

"Okay here," Chuck smiled.

Ellie, Sarah and Mary came over to join them. Sarah asked, "So, you figure anything out?"

Chuck said, "Couple things. When the Docs say I can, we ought to go downtown and get the marriage license. They will only need your passport." He was watching close and she nodded. "Next, we need to get the guys to be measured again, and we need to pick out the tux. The only requirement so far is no pastels." Sarah laughed at the thought of Casey in a pastel tux. Chuck went on, "Casey will handle transportation."

Sarah commented, "Wow, you have got a lot done."

Chuck cut her off before she started to think she had too much to do, "Well, you already know the flowers and where we are going to have it. We already said a month from now, although tomorrow we ought to check with our bosses' secretaries for which day is better."

Sarah asked, "Well first, Ellie and Devon which day is better for you?"

Ellie looked at the calendar, "Well, Saturday afternoons have been constantly time off. The mornings have been kind of iffy. Sundays have been a bust here recently. One of us has been in each Sunday. Friday afternoons are the next best."

"Okay, we'll go for the 6th at 2 PM," Sarah was happy that they finally got one more thing settled.

"I was wondering about the rehearsal dinner. Now I don't want to get into your part, but would we do the reception at the ranch?" Chuck asked.

Sarah said, "Oh, I'd love to. Mary, can we?"

"Certainly, I learned to cook from Donna. She is our cook at the ranch. She'll be proud of doing that for you," Mary said.

Chuck then said, "Well, I assumed that we would do the rehearsal at the ranch, but I don't know what would be around there for the dinner. Mary, do you have any suggestions?"

"Oh sure, that are a few places close to the ranch we could use. When we get back, we ought to try a couple," Mary answered.

The buzzer for the oven went off. Ellie said, "Well, dinner is served. Excuse me."

Dinner went smoothly with the details for the flowers and the shop, ideas about the cake, and where to go for the dresses being established. Sarah agreed that they would get the license the next day, the cake and flowers the next, and then the dresses when Mary got back. Mary suggested using the chaplain that was holding services at the chapel now. She said that he should be easy to check. He was retired military.

Soon after dinner was finished Chuck leaned back and fell asleep again. Ellie and Mary made sure Sarah was okay. Everyone said his or her goodnights.

Chuck woke up later when the pain relievers were wearing off. Sarah was next to him asleep. She had the news channel on with the volume down low. Chuck knew better and quickly turned the TV to a classic movie channel. When Chuck reached for the pills and water Sarah woke up.

"Here, let me help," she got the glass and helped him.

Chuck said, "I think it would be easier to sleep up stairs. You want to try getting up there?"

Sarah nodded. The couch was not that comfortable. She got him up stairs and to the bedroom. He went to the bathroom and was proud he could get there and back on his own. He told her he was going to wait for her and sat of the edge of the bed while she took a shower.

When Sarah got him ready for bed and Sarah got in with him, he pulled her to him and kissed. It lasted for a while but the medications finally took effect and he went to asleep again. Sarah smiled and curled up in his arms.

**Casa Bartowski **

Knowing that they would be split up during the operation, Casey made sure the night was a special one. While Mary was checking the plans for the next day, he had some flowers delivered and put some candles out. When she came in the apartment she was surprised at what he had done.

Mary gave Casey a hug, "Wow, very nice." Casey poured her a drink. Mary had a sip of her drink, "Do you think Chuck will be okay?"

Casey answered, "Yes, he will be able to handle it. And I do have to say, he has been resilient."

Casey turned on the music to listen to some soft Neil in the background. Casey motioned to the flowers and candles and said, "I wanted to make sure that you knew why you are going to be very careful and come back. I know I am starting to sound like Bartowski, but I love you and I don't want to even imagine what it would be like without you."

Mary had a sip of her drink, "Oh I don't think you'll forget why either." She set her drink down.

_A/N Hope you enjoyed._


	4. Chapter 4 the Surveillance

Let us do something, while we have the chance.

Still don't own Chuck.

"Sometimes it helps to know that you got something to lose."  
--Agent Walker Episode 3.4

Chapter 4—the Surveillance

**Casa Bartowski **

Chuck woke with Sarah in his arms. He felt better and she was here. He moved closer to her and moved his arm to restore some feeling again. He quickly thought about whether that was a good idea. He was not trying to wake her but it happened. "Hi there," he said.

"Good morning, are you doing okay?" Sarah asked.

"I think so, but I just had a set of pills an hour ago. How are you doing? Are you getting enough sleep?" he inquired.

"Yes, I am fine. And no more nightmares," she smiled and hugged him.

"Can you help me get ready for a shower?" he watched her eyes. "I mean put that plastic wrap on. And yeah, you probably should stay close by in case something happens. But…"

Sarah put her fingers over his mouth, "I know. It is okay. I'll help."

They went in the bathroom and Sarah put the wrap over the bandages. Chuck got down to his boxer shorts and stepped into the shower. Sarah smiled at him and waited by the vanity. When he got done, she stepped out of the bathroom. He got another pair on and came out of the bathroom smiling. Sarah helped him back over to the bed and said that she was going to take a shower too. Chuck was asleep when she got done.

Casey woke up first and held Mary for quiet a while. Mary finally stirred and looked up at Casey. She got closer to him and reached up to kiss him. They stayed in an embrace.

Casey said, "You know I only agreed to this because we could not think of another way. You stay in the hotel to do surveillance on the Fulcrum agents and I will be right across the street. Those guys come close to you and you do what?"

"I push the red button on my bracelet," Mary recited.

"And how long does it take me to get there?" continued Casey.

"Too long, so I run," she ended.

"Good," Casey kissed and held her tighter. "Okay, let's get ready."

Casey and Mary were dressed and packed. They were seated in the conference room waiting for the rest of the teams for a final review.

Sarah called and got Mary, "Hey, Dorothy is here. I'll be up in a second for the reviews." Sarah stayed in the conference room watching all the reviews for the teams and the updates. At the end Sarah got up, "I wanted to make sure that you all take care. I know what it is like to be close to completing the mission and thinking that you could get around a little detail just to speed something up. Or thinking that you can do it yourself. And I know we have gone over this every time. But I want everyone to be careful. It is more important to all of us that you come back than catching another Fulcrum agent. Be careful."

Sarah went back to Chuck. Dorothy had helped him downstairs and he was waiting for Sarah on the couch bed. "Hey, how it go?" Chuck asked.

She went over a flopped down beside him.

"Hey, what?" Chuck pursued.

"What do you do when you have to send someone off and you don't know…?" Sarah said.

Chuck broke in, "Come back?" He saw her nod. "Pray."

The teams broke up form the conference room. Mary and her team were driving down to San Diego. Chief Scotts was driving with Mary in shot gun and Lawrence Taylor, LT, was in the back. They remained team one for reporting and control. Mary's team had one chase car that was the protection detail including Casey. Another would pick them up about half way to their destination and the third would meet them at San Diego.

Marshal Kayle Preston was going to the LA airport for a ride to Portland with his team. They remained team four as the members were Lea Suz and Brad Hill. They were going to Portland and then if things went as planned, Kayle would head to Salem. One detail was going with them on the plane and the other was to meet them in Portland.

Alice's team, number two, was heading to Seattle on military transportation. Alice had Tom Newton and Vera Townsman on her team. Their protection details were heading up there with them.

The surveillance operations of each team were to start that afternoon. They would be connected live to the conference with the Castle as backup. Steven and Chuck had set up the conference for this type of operation. Steven would be in the conference center during the days. Then Liz Reynolds from Sarah's analysis center, Elton Devers, Eldie, still recovering from a guns shot wound, and Kristen O'Day would be working shifts to monitor the situation. Problems were to be referred to Mary first, and then Sarah if Mary could not be contacted.

The main objective of the surveillance was to determine whom these agents were reporting to. Basically find their new boss. The next objective was to determine whether these agents were trying to reestablish connections with the traffickers. After those objectives were met then the next step was to arrest the agents.

Chuck slept most of the day. Sarah stayed on-line with the teams while they were traveling. Mr. Wiggins was on-line and pushing any information they got out to Mary and the teams. Sarah reviewed the information as it flowed. When Chuck woke for pills or another check by Dorothy, he would review the information to see if there was anything out of the ordinary or whether there was something he flashed on.

**Team Two**

Alice and her team got to Seattle first. They took separate cars and checked into the hotel. Their targets were staying at the hotel and using an office across the street. Alice's room faced the office. She set up surveillance gear to monitor the office. The equipment fed into the data lines going to the conference room. She would be renting an office next to theirs the next day.

Tom went down to the hotel restaurant to slowly enjoy his dinner and see if the Fulcrum agents would stop by. Their intelligence was correct. One of the agents came in with two girls and began a little party. They were enjoying themselves through the meal. They were either kissing or overtly pawing each other. Tom stopped counting the number of times the 'asshole's' hand disappeared in the blouses of the girls. Tom went to the restroom and on the way used the opportunity to plant a bug on the agent. Tom dropped the bug into the guy's pocket as the he was engaged pawing the thigh smaller girl. Tom was upset with the actions of the agent and passed his concerns on to Alice. He was positive they were very young, if not too young. Mary warned them to watch for traffickers. That type of behavior was one of theirs.

Vera posed as a maid and went to each of the Fulcrum agents rooms to plant bugs. When she was done with that she changed into something more appealing and went to the bar. Their intelligence showed activity by one of the Fulcrum agents at the hotel bar. She sat at a table and waited for her target. After a couple drinks and a bar sandwich she decided he was a no show.

The protection details were hidden by blending in to the scene. There were two on nearby roofs checking the area. One was a waiter in the restaurant and one as a hotel maid. Two more came into the bar dress as businessmen.

**Team Four **

Kayle and his team got to their first objective next. Their first target was an office run out of a warehouse. Kayle's team was the happy new tenant of the office across the street. They were arranging new signage and the installation of new furniture. Kayle made his way to place trackers on the Fulcrum agent's cars. Lea was setting up the surveillance equipment in their office to monitor the warehouse and the office. Brad had triangulated a wireless signal coming from the warehouse. He was working with Mr. Wiggins to crack into the wireless network.

Lea followed the first agent leaving the warehouse to a bar nearby. Since they were not completely comfortable with the lack of clear exits from the establishment, Lea was told to not to proceed into the bar. She remained outside the bar waiting to see if the agent came out with anyone. After an hour the agent walked out alone and drove off to his apartment. Lea went to the apartment on the opposite corner. She set up more surveillance equipment to monitor the apartment.

Brad trailed the next agent, a young lady. She was dressed to match in a business suit that appeared to be almost stern. She made a stop at a drug store, but continued from there to her apartment. It was in the same complex as the first agent but on the other side of the three block complex. Brad took an apartment two down from hers and set up.

Kayle let the next agent go and waited on the agent that locked out the office. This was a bit of a surprise as that agent drove to Salem that night. After going twenty miles out of Portland, Kayle and Mary agreed that he should return to the other apartment that was across from the agent that Kayle did not follow.

**Team One**

Mary's team arrived in San Diego and set up across from their target at a warehouse near the docks. Their target was going to be potentially a little more difficult. The fulcrum agents were operating out of a wharf-office combination along with two sail boats. Their intelligence indicated at least one of them was using the boats as a home. The other three agents were staying at a small motel down the street. The Chief was already over at the hotel setting up surveillance in the rooms of the agents. After completing their surveillance set up at the warehouse, Mary and LT moved to the motel.

By the time they completed their set up Mary had already told Tom to watch for traffickers. She realized the young girls he saw were an indication. Casey was in the warehouse at the time and agreed. One of his protection details was waiting for Mary and her team at the motel. One was to stay around the warehouse they were using. The last team was across the street from the motel in an apartment building which was where Casey would be staying.

LT went to the bar in the motel parking lot in case the Fulcrum agents stopped by. Mary went to the restaurant down the street. Neither saw an agent that first night. Mary went back to the motel after telling Kayle to return to Portland.

Chuck and Sarah listened to Mary's report that night. There were no particular highlights from the information they collected. Chuck fell asleep soon after that bit of information. Mary and her team leads went on to explain the other parts of the surveillance that had been established.

**Casa Bartowski**

With Chuck settled in for what looked like the rest of the night, Sarah took a shower and settled in to review her emails and voicemails before going to bed. She was surprised that the last voicemail was from Chuck saying that he loved her and to remember she was on vacation. When she got in bed, she poked him. He rolled over, kissed her and went back to sleep.

The next morning Chuck woke up in pain. He looked at the clock and saw it was time to take the pain relievers.

Sarah was fully awake staring at Chuck, "Chuck, what is wrong? Chuck?"

"Okay, just need the pain medicine," Chuck replied.

Sarah scrambled for the pills and a glass of water. She helped him take the pills and hold the water to swallow them. She rubbed his hair, "Okay, I know you got heavier pain relievers. But I guess I did not realize that you were in that much pain."

"Explain later. Just hold me," Chuck started to rock with the pain.

Sarah was patient and held Chuck for almost a half hour. She finally looked at him and asked, "Are you better?"

"Yeah, I am back in the clouds," Chuck had his head down.

"So, how bad was the pain?" Sarah asked.

"Close to eights," he said then asked, "You know what I am talking about?"

She kissed him, "I do."

"That's want I want to hear," he held her.

"Well, let's ask Doc Adams if there is anything he can do," Sarah added.

Later when Doc Adams came to check on Chuck, Sarah asked about the medications. They went over the options with Chuck and agreed to stay with what they had by timing the medication a little earlier, instead of waiting for the pain.

Chuck made a point of asking Sarah to help him stay awake until the morning briefings. Sarah called Mary to tell her that they would do a review with Chuck and as agreed they would continue to do it when he was ready. Mary got her team on-line and went through the day's plans. Steven and Mr. Wiggins provided updates. Liz was working the conference room.

Chuck got help from Dorothy to get downstairs and felt a little better. Ellie and Devon stopped over before they went to work. Ellie made breakfast for everyone. Steven came down from the conference room. And Kristen came over. Sarah took a plate up to Liz.

**Team Two**

Alice and her team left their rooms at separate times. Alice spent the early morning reviewing the feeds from the previous night. She had reported those in her summary. She agreed with Tom that the agent with the girls had a problem. When she made sure Liz had the data package, she suggested some controls be placed on the recordings.

Tom went first to meet the agent with the girls in the lobby. The timing worked perfectly as he saw two other men take the girls away and the agent walk across the street to the Fulcrum office. Alice flagged the video as two possible traffickers.

Vera went to the hotel restaurant and monitored her target during breakfast. He ate alone while reading the newspaper. Then he went to the office.

Alice followed her agent to the lobby and watched her go across the street to the office. She went to her room to monitor the office. Later in the morning she finalized the rental of the office and her team members came over. After setting up their surveillance equipment there they looked for wireless internet networks in the area. They used the protection detail as customers.

**Team Four **

Kayle and his team followed their agents back to the office and assumed their positions in the office across the street. They found the surveillance was working as the intercepted a call to the office from the agent that went to Salem. The conversation was not revealing, he only said that he got there and the traffic was terrible.

**Team One**

Mary's team watched their targets from across the street at the warehouse. The Fulcrum agents met at the front of the motel and went to work together. Mary's team continued to monitor the feeds. The activity seemed to match the cover for the Fulcrum agents. They were scheduling trips for the two sail boats. Their calls out were generally to order supplies for those trips.

Later in the day there was a call that the Chief was monitoring. The caller to the Fulcrum agents said that they were bringing another shipment. They gave details of the support they would need including extra firepower, a temporary holding facility, and transportation. The next call was to the one of the agents in Seattle. He was told about the shipment and to arrange transportation for a large group to his location. Another call went to the agent in Salem. He was told to bring his folks as backup.

**Casa Bartowski **

Sarah called Mary late in the afternoon to arrange a report. Chuck was awake and getting checked by Dorothy. Before the others got on line Mary told Sarah about the video from Seattle. She told her that it was disgusting but that Chuck should look at the recording at a specific point. There were some tattoos visible that may have some meaning. With all the others on the conference, Mary went over the details of the in-coming shipment. Mary recommended that they hold off on the arrests for the shipment. That was going to be another three days after their original planned date. Chuck told the group that they needed more information on the shipment. He asked Mr. Wiggins to lead the effort to see what could be coming in to port then he hesitated and said to check on any unusual air shipments.

After the conference call, Sarah indexed the recording to the right spot and showed Chuck.

"Okay, that's just bad. Wait, back it up so I can see the tattoo on his shoulder," Chuck was staring at the screen. One of the girls got in the way of the shot. Then he saw them, tattoos on the girl. There were two. One was on her breast, a ring of barbed wire. The other was down just above her g-string panty line, a skull. Chuck was able to reach up and cover his eyes, but it was not fast enough. The flash started. The details were horrific. Images from case files relating to girls being tortured into submission and then branded or tattooed with similar markings rocked him. The images continued to flash.

Dorothy had stepped out during the briefings was now running back to Chuck side. She had left on the monitors to get a better reading and the alarms were going off. Chuck's heart rate was sky rocketing and his blood pressure was on a steep rise.

Sarah paused the recording when Chuck's hands moved. While she immediately went to him, she saw the tattoos and knew their meaning. She was starting to get upset someone had not caught that already, she knew Chuck would put them together. Tonight was going to be bad.

Sarah held Chuck while Dorothy reset the equipment. Chuck's flashes continued. Internally he was trying to manage it, but another part of the Halverson organization was coming together. The tentacles ran through Fulcrum. It was a part of their cash operations.

Dorothy was getting the same readings the second time. His rate was still climbing.

_A/N Hope you enjoyed._


	5. Chapter 5 the Hard Night

Let us do something, while we have the chance.

Still don't own Chuck.

"Sometimes it helps to know that you got something to lose."  
--Agent Walker Episode 3.4

Chapter 5—the Hard Night

**Casa Bartowski **

Chuck was still rocking back and forth in the bed. Sarah was on the bed with her legs underneath her holding him as he rocked. She had her arms around him and had moved her face in front of his so that he could no longer see the screen. He tried a weak smile and managed, "Wow…whatever…happened to…a heart with…Love You Mom."

Dorothy was by the bed watching him and the monitors. Dorothy and Sarah started talking at the same time, "How are you? Are you okay?"

"Okay…trying to…calm down. Just…a second," Chuck replied while still rocking.

Dorothy saw that the monitors showed the heart rate had leveled off but was not yet heading down. She looked over to Sarah, "I have to call Doc Adams."

Sarah nodded and held Chuck harder. Sarah started running her hand through his hair. She began, "It's okay, you'll be fine," and repeating it.

Chuck was trying hard to calm down. The flashes had put him into a state where he was gaining tons of information and at the same time trying to correlate it and do planning as though he was preparing for an epic battle. Chuck managed, "Have teams…report in…now… Problems… Need laptop." He could only get a few words out then he would have to take a breath and rock.

Dorothy put down her cell after she got Doc Adams. He was coming over. He told her to hold off giving anything else to Chuck until he got there. Dorothy heard Chuck and got the laptop. "I need him to calm down," she said to Sarah.

"Please…will…ambush," was all that Chuck could get out.

Sarah grabbed the phone and connected with Eldie to relay the request to have the teams report in. She told him to get Mary and Casey and between the three of them make sure everyone got on-line for a conference call. Sarah was watching Dorothy decide whether to give the laptop to Chuck. She interjected, "Please. Knowing him, he would get worse if you did not let him have it."

Dorothy reached over and handed the laptop to Chuck, "If you don't noticeably lower you heart rate, I'll take it back." She gave him a look that was worse than anything he'd seen from Beckman.

Chuck shook his head that he understood. Chuck began again, "Don't…know… Need picture…of men…who took…girls away." Chuck stared the laptop.

Sarah put her hand on his, "Can this wait till Doc Adams is here and we start to get you calmed down?" She watched him think about it. Then she realized what he was thinking; "They could be from a different part of the traffickers, right?"

"Overseas… really bad." Chuck said.

Sarah knew what he was thinking, 'always protect the teams'. She said, "I'll call them back."

Chuck's face showed immediate relief. Then he added, "I'll wait." He laid back and Sarah could tell there was he would start to calm down.

Sarah quietly closed the laptop and called Eldie again. She told him to give her a call when he had the conference established and they would join. She got next to Chuck and put her arms around him again. It almost seemed as though he had rocked himself to sleep.

Doc Adams came in from the conference room through the next room. When he opened the bedroom door and saw that Chuck was asleep, he motioned to Dorothy and they went to the next room. He listened to Dorothy explain what had happened then went back to Chuck.

Sarah saw them leave for the next room, but waited until they came back before she left Chuck's side. Sarah was watching the monitors too. She could tell his heart rate was still high but had decreased from the prior levels.

Doc Adams already had his stethoscope out and used it to check Chuck's lungs. He went to Sarah, "Okay, there is a little bubbling sound. It could be some excess fluid or the start of another rupture. We have to get his heart rate down from where it is. It could be contributing."

Sarah did not like the sound of this, "So what are you saying?"

"Another rupture with this high heart rate could be fatal. I need to take him back to the hospital so we can get a picture of the area. An MRI would work. I am going to give him something that will put him to sleep and then we will head over to the hospital. Dorothy, give the guards a call to get this rolling." Doc Adams directed.

Sarah got the call from Eldie. The teams were all on-line. She knew that Chuck was right with the new information the best thing was to recall the teams. Sarah said, "Mary and Casey, this is Sarah. I want you to withdraw our teams now. You can leave the surveillance equipment in place. I want our people out now." She turned to see Doc Adams giving Chuck the shot. Chuck was awake and nodded his head at Sarah. Sarah continued, "Be alert there could be an ambush or counterstrike by the traffickers. Stay in continuous contact and report progress. Mary and Casey let me know if you have any deviations to the previous extraction plans."

Mary came on next, "Sarah, this is Mary. Is Chuck okay?" Eldie had said that Doc Adams was called but did not know what had happened.

Sarah could only say, "No." She turned to Doc Adams to check on his progress. Chuck was already asleep.

Doc thought she was looking to him to add something and said, "Doc Adams here. We are talking Chuck back to the hospital. He has an abnormally high heart rate and we need to check his lungs."

Mary immediately picked up, "Sarah, you go with them. We'll do fine and get everyone back. We'll leave the conference line open so you can check in, but right now I think all of us want you to go take care of him."

Dorothy spoke up next, "They have the van ready." Two of the protection detail were coming in the bedroom with a stretcher. Doc Adams and Dorothy helped them get Chuck on to the stretcher.

As they were getting ready Doc Adams asked, "Are you coming?"

Sarah nodded, "Mary, John, everyone be careful. I'm heading to the hospital with Chuck." Sarah disconnected her line. She decided that she would call back from the hospital once she knew Chuck's condition. She had to make one more call, "Hey Ellie. Chuck is having some problems, high heart rate and a little gurgling in his lungs. We are headed back to the hospital. Where are you?"

Ellie answered, "Our shift just ended. But we'll wait here. Have Ben call us, we can get things set up." Ellie came back, "Sarah, it will be okay. We'll take care of him."

Sarah got her bag and followed the procession, "Thanks so much. I'll have Ben call back in a couple minutes."

The group got out to the van. The protection detail guards put Chuck in the van and then took their position as the driver and shotgun for the van. Sarah and Doc Adams got in back with Chuck. Casey talked to the protection detail lead and told him to concentrate on Chuck and back fill at the apartments as soon as they could.

**Seattle**

The plan for Alice and her team was to leave the hotel and drive immediately to Vancouver. There they would meet at another hotel and get the earliest flight possible to LA. They left in pairs. A team member and one of the protection detail members in each of the cars. With the extra protection detail members there were two extra cars that would follow the team member's car and check for any problems.

Alice had closed the blinds in her hotel windows. She left the lights on in the room and then started the automatic call recordings. It was adaption to the phone that Steven had used in his escapes as Orin. It would use the hotel phone system and start making calls. If someone was connected to the hotel system they could tell the room phone was in use. If they tapped the phone, they would get to hear a prerecorded conversation with Mom, a sister or another family member.

Alice went down the stairs to the basement level. She saw her car in the back. Walking to it, she could see two members from the protection detail. Her withdrawal was working perfectly. She was getting in the lead car. Her driver had her lay down in the back seat as they came up from the underground garage. He told her to stay down so that 'they' would not know which car to follow and whether she had really left the hotel. The basement parking came out the side of the hotel. The driver turned left and went down two blocks pulling up behind one of the other protection detail cars. He waited to confirm that the other protection detail car was behind him.

Tom and Vera went through the same procedure leaving their rooms. Tom went down the elevator and turned to go out the side door. As he started down the hall, where he was met by the Fulcrum agent. It was the agent he had seen the night before. The agent had two new girls with him and there were two more thugs behind with two girls each. Tom smiled but was trying to complete the withdrawal as planned.

The agent came up to him and said in a rather slurred voice, "Want to join us? We got more than enough." Things started downhill from there. The two thugs moved up to Tom and started to put their hands under their jacket.

Tom had his head set on and was a bit surprised that they had not noticed. He stepped back saying, "That's very nice of you. But I have to meet someone for a late dinner and I'm running a bit late myself." He had moved his hand to the Colt positioned in his back. He was ready. He could see the two from the protection detail just outside the door.

Tom knew this could start at any second. He made one more attempt, "Please excuse me, my car is out the side door." He was surprised that one of the girls made the move that decided the event. One of them came over to Tom and wrapped herself around him.

She started to kiss him. She put her mouth up to his and looked in his eyes. She was frightened and was holding to him tightly. She kissed him once then moved to tell him something. She whispered, "Columbian Security, I need the two girls behind you extracted now. They're diplomats' daughters." She continued to kiss him, and then whispered again, "They know you're FBI or something." Holding close to him, she continued to move to his side.

The agent said, "Go on, and get out of here. You can have that one as a present." The girl smiled at the agent. Tom nodded his thanks. He and the girl made their way down the hall to the door.

They were almost to the door when the girl said, "They are coming back. Their weapons are out."

Tom said into his head set, "Did you catch that?"

Vera was on-line, "Coming in back of them with my detail. Chuck would like this. Shame he is not listening; we have tranquilizers loaded and will come in shooting. Ready? One…two… Get down!"

Vera and three members of her detail came around the corner and shot at everyone standing. The other girls, the agent and the two thugs hit the floor. Tom and the Columbian agent were already crouched on the floor. Vera reported, "They're all down."

Alice had been monitoring, "We are on our way back. Get the girls, handcuff them, and put them in the cars. Take the Fulcrum agent also. Leave the thugs, we'll have enough passengers. Move the thugs to an appropriate area and we'll alert the local police of a problem at the hotel."

Tom said, "I'm going to bring the friendly one. We can't let her stay here. The Fulcrum agents or the Snakeheads would kill her after this." He saw her smiling at him.

Alice answered, "Bring her along. Have Vera make sure she no weapons." She paused a second. "Okay here's how this goes. Tom take the girls in your cars. Start loading and pull away from the hotel as soon as you are in the cars. Vera put the Fulcrum agent in one of the protection details cars. Based on what we have heard about Casey, let him have two more tranq shots after you load him."

Alice added, "We will be going to the alternate extraction point. Mary and Eldie, did you copy? We are heading to the alternate extraction point."

Mary came on-line, "Copy. Casey is here with me. We will alert them. Good job."

**Portland**

Kayle, Lea and Brad were still in the office across the street from the Fulcrum warehouse. Each went to the parking lot in the back of their office building. A protection detail member covered their exit and then covered the parking lot. Each of them got to the parking lot without any problem.

The team was getting in their cars when the protection detail still watching the warehouse called out, "Three armed personnel coming out of the warehouse to the office building. They are carrying Heckler & Koch G36s."

Kayle replied, "We are withdrawing. Do not engage them unless you expect them to preparing to fire on your position."

The team got in the vehicles. A protection detail member got in as the driver and another as shotgun. They left the parking lot using a route in the back. The reminder of the protection detail withdrew from the sides of the surveillance points. The team fanned out taking three routes to the Coast Guard facility.

As they hit the road, Eldie reported, "The Portland Fulcrum shooters have entered our office. They are taking out our surveillance equipment. Well, there went the last camera." Eldie smiled to himself. It looked like the Fulcrum crew was blowing off some steam, not very professional as Casey would say.

**San Diego**

Eldie called back into the conference line, "Mary this is probably obvious, but they know."

Mary came back, "Copy, we have our vehicles in the warehouse. We are heading out now. We are following our extraction plan. You should have the route we are taking, Harbor to Pacific, Broadway then 163 to Miramar."

"This is Casey, I have called in support. We'll have Super Cobras trailing us. We can highlight anything that is a threat and hand them off. We are set," added Casey.

Eldie answered, "Okay, I will follow your progress."

Mary got in her van. All the others were set. Two lead vans started out of the warehouse. Casey was in the next followed by Mary's van and then a van with LT and the Chief. There were two trail vans that were waiting at the first intersection at Harbor.

The first two vans went past parking lots on both sides of the street. Two cars from both sides of the street attempted to block Casey's van and those behind. They made their mistake by firing at Casey's van. With a demonstrable hostile force taking on the column, the Super Cobras were on it before the first car got to Casey's van. With a burst at each car the initial attack ended quickly. The cars ended their forward movement with their frames almost nailed to the pavement. Two of them caught fire.

Casey kept saying, "Keep moving. Drivers proceed." Casey had to duck as some of the shots were armor piecing and had come through the windows of the van. He turned around to look back at Mary's van. They were moving as Casey expected.

When the lead vans got to Harbor they made their turn and continued. After LT and the Chief went through, the two vans at Harbor took their position at the end of the procession. They made it down Harbor not quite a mile without incident. Then shooters positioned in railroad cars next to the street opened fire. They started at Casey's van and began shooting at the next three.

Windows were being shatter on each of the vans. Casey continued to press the drivers. The end vans raced to position their vans between the shooters and the teams' vans. The Cobras took position and began to fire back. In less than a minute it was over, the box cars being used by the shooters had been blow apart and the caravan had moved past them.

Casey called out, "Report by van." He listened to the count as it rolled. The first two vans had not been hit. His driver and shotgun pointed to some cuts from flying glass. He reported, "Van 3 with minor cuts from the glass."

Casey listened intently as Mary reported in saying the same thing for her van. The Chief reported in for the next, "Van 4 has one wounded, Sergeant Fallon, with a bullet to right leg almost hip. We have him in the back of the van now and are treating him." The last two vans reported no injuries.

Mary made the decision, "Team One, we will reroute to the alternate extraction point. Head directly to the Mercury Hanger at the airport." Mary had quickly decided that they could transfer the injured sergeant at the airport and continue by air. It was better than taking him another thirty minutes to Miramar.

**West Side Medical**

Sarah held Chuck's hand as they went to the hospital. She was rubbing it the whole way. She kept going back trying to think of something they could have done to prevent this from happening. She would think about a sequence of events and then shake her head that it would not have helped.

Doc Adams was in contact with the hospital the whole way. As soon as they got to the hospital, Doc Weidman met them. Ellie and Devon were waiting too. Doc Weidman and Adams took Chuck and proceeded down the hall. Ellie and Devon took Sarah aside to another room.

The protection details fanned out. Their lead had been listening to the reports of the other units and the problems that had been occurring. His detail covered the entrances to the hospital and the rooms where Chuck and Sarah had gone.

Sarah walked into the room and immediately fell into the first chair. She felt so tried. She knew she needed to call back into the conference line and check on their progress. But she did not get a chance, Ellie seeing her dejected look came over.

"Sarah, it will be fine. They have a good handle on what to do and there should not be any problems. Really, this will be okay," she saw Sarah nod and hold back a sniffle.

Devon chimed in, "Really Sis, he'll be fine. You'll see."

Chuck was starting to wake up and saw Doc Adams, Weidman and another doctor pointing at an x-ray.

_A/N I think the computer battles are over. Hope you enjoy._


	6. Chapter 6 the Transfers

Let us do something, while we have the chance.

Still don't own Chuck.

"Sometimes it helps to know that you got something to lose."  
--Agent Walker Episode 3.4

Chapter 6—the Transfers

**West Side Medical**

Chuck could tell that his heart rate had gone down. His heart was no longer beating out of his chest. But he was a bit worried about the raspy sound when he breathed. He turned to his side and watched the doctors as they crowded around the x-ray.

Doc Adams turned and saw that he was awake. He walked over to Chuck and said, "We are going to take you over to get an MRI. We are almost certain that you have another hole in your lungs. The MRI will confirm it, if there is one. It will also help us be able to focus on it and see if there is a bigger problem in that area.

"I still want that heart rate to come down some more. Right now, it is at a level that you should be standing or walking, not waking up. So," he turned to get a shot package for the IV.

Chuck was able to make it sound like speech. His mouth was so dry. He asked, "Is Sarah okay? And did the teams make it back?"

Doc Adams put the solution in the IV and answered, "Sarah is fine. She is with Ellie and Devon. I have not heard about the teams yet."

Chuck replied, "Please check, got to know."

Doc Adams understood. He got out his cell and called into the conference line, "This is Doc Adams, here with Chuck. He wants to know the status of the teams." He handed the phone to Chuck.

"Mary and Alice's teams are heading to the alternate extraction points. Both should be there in five minutes. Kayle's team is at the Coast Guard station and loading their team now. One causality, Sergeant Fallon, on Mary's team, shot in the leg," Eldie's report continued but Chuck was asleep. Doc Adams took the phone from Chuck. A nurse came over and started to wheel Chuck away.

Doc Adams excused himself and headed over to Sarah's room. He came to the door and knocked. Sarah was in the middle chair with Ellie and Devon on either side of her. Doc Adams came up to her and began, "They have taken him back to get an MRI. We did spot a problem area in the x-ray. That bubbling sound is likely coming from a small hole. We will be able to confirm that with the MRI.

"Also, he was awake for just a little. His first question was how you were doing?" He saw Sarah look, "I told him that you were fine." He saw the relief in her face. "He then asked for the status of the teams. I knew he would fight going back to sleep if he did not get an answer. That would have increased his heart rate again," he saw Sarah nod. "I called into the conference line and he got an update from Eldie."

Sarah understood. Earlier she could not wait and had to call in for a status report. She had received the update from Mary and Casey. Steven was now with Eldie and monitoring the situation. She smiled at Doc Adams, "Thank you. I know he appreciated that. So, if they have to operate again?"

Doc Adams said, "Let's wait to see what we get from the MRI." Ellie and Devon's heads were bobbing in agreement.

**Seattle**

Alice and her team went through the gate of McChord Air Force Base. Their destination was Base Ops. The FBI was meeting them there along with U.S. Marshals. The Fulcrum agent was being turned over to the FBI. The daughters of the Diplomats were also to go with the FBI. The other girls were to be given to the Marshals. Their status was to be determined after a separate review.

Melina Habana, Columbian Security, was staying with the team so they could get a full debrief. They had all realized that Chuck needed to be a part of the debriefing and it may have to be put off for a few days. Arrangements were being made to step up a separate facility for her, an apartment away from the Chuck's apartments and Castle.

The team got to Base Ops and unloaded from the vans. Tom and Alice had already explained to Melina what was going to happen. She was very happy and only asked that her embassy be notified. Eldie handled that notification through Mr. Wiggins.

Tom helped Melina get out of the van. The two girls that were the Diplomats' daughters were asleep and leaning against Melina. Tom said, "That's okay, we'll let them lay down on the seat. The FBI will be over to take them in a minute."

Melina said, "Remember they have been under their control a long time. They are still on drugs and entirely unpredictable."

Tom nodded. He asked, "So how are you? Did you escape from the drugs?"

Melina took his hand and held it like it was a life-line, "I want you to understand. Please."

Tom knew this was going to be bad. He was really starting to like Melina. She had been very brave, but he knew there were some terrible things that happened. He said, "You don't have to tell me. But I would like you to trust me, and know that it will be okay if you do."

Melina cocked her head and then nodded her understanding, "You need to know because I will need help. I have been taking the drugs they offered. They were the only thing that I could use to get through this. I know most would think that is a crutch for an agent, but after a while there was no escape from what was happening to me and the other girls."

Tom took her under his arm, "We'll get help for you. I'll let our doctor know that you will need help." Tom held the door open to Base Ops. An airman met them at the door and showed them to the lounge and told to wait there for the transport. Tom offered Melina a seat and stayed with Melina in the lounge.

Alice and Vera worked the transfers. Alice saw the three FBI vans next to Base Ops. Someone got out of the first van and came over to Alice.

"Hi, I'm Special Agent Jim Henry. Are you Alice Kazan?" said the individual.

"Yes, thanks for meeting us out here. We have some special people for you," Alice smiled at him. "First is a real treat. Your office should have received the charges he will be facing. We captured him as he was about to shoot one of our team.

"Apparently his evening of fun was interrupted. He had six young girls with him." She realized the FBI agent agreed with her assessment, this guy was slime. "Our only regret is that we did not shoot lower." She pulled out a tranq gun, "You know we could make sure he does not wake up for another day."

Jim smiled back at her, "Well even though I agree this guy seems like a real sweet heart, I need to let my boss take over and slime ball here will need to be awake." Two of the bigger FBI agents took him to a separate van. They added ankle chains and bolted him into the van.

Next Alice and Jim went over to the van with the Diplomats' daughters. Alice explained, "We have not been able to talk with the girls. They were hit with the tranq darts. Melina, the Columbian Security agent that was undercover with this group, and yes we independently confirmed that, said that the girls were taken by guerrillas from their families over a year ago. They were held hostage for over six months and then negotiations fell through. The guerrillas sold the girls to human traders and then the guerrillas were wiped out the following week by a rival faction. It was another four months before anyone confirmed that the girls were still alive. Melina confirmed that they were drugged and abused. She said to be careful, there was no guarantee these girls would be okay."

Jim said with a grim face, "Actually, they are why I am here. I have worked several long term hostage cases. I'll be in charge of them until they are handed to their embassies, and then we will still offer assistance."

Jim and Alice moved aside so that two other female FBI agents could get the girls to a different van. Jim said, "We will fly out to D.C., after your departure. Your team has the priority here."

Alice looked at him and got his attention, "Well, yeah. Our boss said to expect to be ambushed as we withdrew from surveillance on these people. Each of our three teams was intercepted. One of the shoot outs required Marine Cobras to end it in our favor.

"Now that you are picking up the fruits of our labors, you need to be careful too. I'd like to be sure you came back," she said with a smile.

He returned the smile, "Till next time." He extended his hand. She shook it. He turned to get in his van and head to the plane waiting for him.

Vera saw the vans with the U.S. Marshalls symbols pulled up. A female got out of the lead van and headed to Vera. Vera stepped up, "I am Vera Townsman. You must be Michelle."

The other Marshall said, "Yes, I am Michelle Banks." She held out her badge.

Vera took her over to the other van with the three girls. She explained what they knew about them and gave Michelle a similar warning. Vera ended, "You need to be cautious. The people we are up against would have no problem sending a shooter into a secure facility to kill these girls." Vera waved as they headed off and walked over to Base Ops.

Vera met up with Alice, Tom and Melina in the lounge. Vera walked up to Alice smiling, "You want to come back?"

Alice smiled, "Well, maybe. We'll see."

A Captain walked into the lounge and then proceeded to them at that point, "Your ride is out front. Let me show you." The team and the detail followed him out to a C-17.

**Portland**

The Kayle's team and protection detail took three routes to the Coast Guard station. Kayle, Lea and Brad came in the main entrance to the station. The gate guards told them to go the Sector Center. They pulled in front of the building and were met by Master Chief Rusty McDonald. Rusty went around and shook everyone's hand.

Rusty addressed the group, "On behalf of our Skipper, Commander Wallins, welcome to our station. We will be going through the building behind me to the helicopters. We got two JayHawk helicopters waiting for you. Follow me please."

While they were walking through the building, Kayle said, "Thank you for handling this. Chief Scotts said that he was really impressed and knew if we had to get out fast you would be ready."

"Yeah, Scotty would say that. Tell him he still owes us one next time he is up this way." Rusty smiled, "Saying that, we know what you have been doing. You have our full support. Anytime you need anything let us know."

As Lea walked down the hall she was sure she saw her reflection from the shinny floor. The building appeared to be vacant until they went past the doors leading to the regional command center room. It was crowded.

Rusty saw her look in at the activity, "We are a little busy right now. There is a big storm about to hit the coast." Rusty noticed that Kayle was about to say something, "We have enough time to take you up to McChord and then resume our station before the storm hits. No problem."

Kayle nodded, "We still appreciate the support." They continued walking through the building and out the glass doors at the end.

There were others pointing the way to the helicopters. Kayle and Lea along with three of the protection detail got in the first JayHawk. Brad and the rest of the detail members got in the second. As soon as everyone buckled in, they lifted off.

**San Diego**

Mary's caravan had gotten off Harbor and was on Pacific Highway heading to the new Mercury Hanger. Turning off the highway through a parking lot, they were waved through a fence at the Mercury Hanger. Their vans were waved to a stop across from a C-130. The protection detail got out of the vehicles first. When Casey got the nod, he announced over the net, "Okay, we are clear." He got out of the van and went to the pilot of the C-130.

Mary exited her van and went to check on the Sergeant Fallon. When she got there, two medics who had come out of the hanger were at the van with the sergeant. They helped LT and the Chief get him out of the vehicle and on to a stretcher. Mary watched as they got him on the stretcher. She bent down and told him thanks and that they would be praying for a speedy recovery. He smiled back and held his thumb up.

The Chief got next to Mary and almost shouted over the noise of the C-130 engines, "It was pretty bloody, but I don't think it is that bad of a wound. He'll be alright." The sergeant was taken over to an ambulance and then whisked away to a nearby military hospital.

Casey had walked back from the pilot to see what had happened. When he got to Mary he took her hand. After she turned to smile at him, Casey looked her over to make sure there was nothing wrong. He saw a few cuts. He expected that she saw the same on him. Casey lifted his other arm and pointed over to some tables that had been set up closer to the fence. He said, "We need everyone to go over and get checked. As long as it is only a simple cut we can get on the plane. They have a couple medics on the plane, but are not equipped to handle anything serious."

Mary got the Chief and LT to head over to the medics' table. Casey got the detail members to go over. Each of the people who had been in one of the van with flying glass were checked and bandaged by the medics. The medics decided that two of the protection detail would remain behind and get additional care, stitches at the local hospital.

The C-130 was waited for the team and details. When the people got through with the medics, they got on board. Mary and Casey stayed at the medics' tables until everyone was seen and Okayed. They along with the C-130 loadmaster were the last to get on-board. Then C-130 taxied quickly to the take off position.

**West Side Medical**

Sarah had called into the conference line and was told by Liz that everyone was airborne and out of danger. She listened to the rundown of when everyone was landing. Kayle's team would be last since they had two legs to their journey. Their final ride in a C-130 would get them to LA by midnight. Steven came over to the hospital a little after that. He had stayed monitoring the teams and the surveillance that was still in place. When the teams were wheels up, he left for the hospital.

Doc Adams came back to the waiting room. Sarah, Ellie, Devon, and Steven were sitting there waiting for the results. Doc Adams brought a copy of the MRI image and held it up so that they could see. He pointed to the purple and pink areas on the MRI, "We found a very small hole here. It is next to the previous problem area. Doctor Weidman is getting ready to do a small procedure with a tube to drain the area and allow the hole to heal. The procedure should take about an hour. If was successful, we'll be able to take Chuck back to the apartment in the morning."

Sarah was happier. She had been waiting for some hope in this situation. Sarah smiled at Doc Adams, "Thank you. So, how do we know if it works?"

"The simple answer is that the bubbling will stop," Doc Adams replied. He saw that Ellie and Devon agreed.

Ellie said, "Sarah, this is good. It will be easier on him." Ellie reached to take one of Sarah's hands. "It will be okay."

Doc Adams then said, "Right. I am going to head back and monitor the procedure. If anything happens, we'll let you know." He nodded at Steven and Devon and headed back out.

Sarah was happier but still uncertain over the news. She looked over at Ellie, "So, if this does not work, then they'll operate again?"

Ellie patted her hand, "Yeah, but this has a good chance of working."

Sarah nodded and leaned back in her chair. She was just getting exhausted with the pressure of not knowing. She looked over at Ellie, "Do you need to head home? I can call and let you know."

Ellie looked over at Devon, "No, we'll stay and see how this procedure works."

Steven added, "Everyone is safe. I want to see how he does."

Sarah curled up in her chair and started to wait.

A little more than an hour later, Doc Adams came back. He had a big smile, "We think it worked. The bubbling has stopped and things appear to be normal. He is being taken up to critical care." Ellie had started hugging Sarah in relief. That turned into a group hug.

Doc Adams pulled back and looked at Sarah, "There are a few conditions and other complications."

Sarah deflated, "What?"

"We cannot let him drive his heart rate up. We think that was a contributing factor. And there was a trace of HF in the fluid from the area of the hole," Doc was explaining.

Sarah was getting anxious, "So, what does that mean?"

Doc Adams answered, "Well, we had a short meeting on that. Any stress that increases his heart rate or causes him to cough excessively, would likely lead to another rupture. We still think it is better from an infection stand point for him to go back to the apartments. But if work causes any more problems, he comes back here."

_A/N Hope you enjoyed._


	7. Chapter 7 the Rate

Let us do something, while we have the chance.

Still don't own Chuck.

"Sometimes it helps to know that you got something to lose."  
--Agent Walker Episode 3.4

Chapter 7—the Rate

**West Side Medical**

Sarah woke up first the next morning. She looked over at Chuck. He was still lying on his back and probably had all night long. It had been another night of the nurses coming in every two hours to adjust or change something. Sarah had given up trying to track what they were doing. She was only catching catnaps in between their visits. Chuck had stayed asleep the entire time.

Sarah slid off the bed trying not to wake Chuck. She got her clothes and went to take a shower. She finished up, bushed her hair and was satisfied that she was ready for the day. She got back over to Chuck's bed and sat in the chair next to him. Taking his hand she waited for him to wake.

No more than a minute later Chuck began wrestling with his covers and woke up. He saw Sarah waiting next to him and said through a dry mouth, "Hi, love you."

Sarah bent over and kissed his hand, "I love you too." She reached over and got the water glass and held it for him while he took a sip. She asked, "Are you feeling better?"

Chuck took another sip of water and said, "Kind of, heart is not racing." He took a breath and breathed out, "Not wheezing. So, I guess that is better. Chest seems to be hurting more." His eyes went wide, "They didn't operate again?"

Sarah held his hand tighter, "No, not a big operation. Doc Adams said that they put a tube in you to heal in small hole that was developing in your lungs. I have not looked to see where that was."

A nurse knocked at the door just then, "I can show you which one it is. It is time to change his bandages." She looked at Chuck as she came beside the bed, "Let me check you real quick. Then would you like to take a shower before I put the new bandages on?"

Chuck answered, "Sure that would be fine." He watched her go through the drill and made a few adjustments.

"Okay, let's start this," she got the IV bag.

Chuck scooted to the edge of the bed. Sarah got on one side of him and the nurse on the other. He braced himself against both of them, stood up and shuffled over to the restroom. They helped him get set and then he said he could do the rest. The nurse said to hit the buzzer when he was ready.

Sarah sat on the bed waiting for him to get done. In a little while she heard, "Hey Sarah, could you help?" Sarah rushed over to the restroom. When she opened the door, she saw him standing there in his shorts holding the IV bag and looking at the robe like it was a great puzzle.

She took the robe from him and said, "What do you need?"

"Well, maybe I need another robe. The drawstring is all knotted. And I am sorry, I did not see the hook for the IV until just now," he looked at her rather sheepishly.

Sarah answered, "Let's get the nurse and she can change those. Then we can see about heading home."

"Fine," Chuck picked up the buzzer and hit the button. "So, did everyone get home last night?"

"Yes, and that's one of the things we need to talk about," she saw him raise his eyebrow. "Everything is fine with the teams. But the doctors don't want your heart rate to go up. And because of that, they don't want you to work. They said that if your work causes another problem, then you will have to come back here and stay."

"But I need…" Chuck began.

Sarah put her fingers to his lips, "Please wait until we get back to the apartments. I really don't want to live here, do you?" Chuck shook his head no. He got his IV and they headed out the door of the restroom.

The nurse was just outside the door of the restroom. She said, "Good, this will be easier with just your shorts on. Let's go over here to the cabinets. I can get to the supplies quicker." When they got in place, the nurse pointed, "Here it is darling. The new one is fairly small. We'll put a small bandage on the incision. Now, the fun part. I promise that I will try not to pull every hair, but then you're the first this morning." She smiled at Chuck.

Chuck tried hard not to winced too much as she changed them all. He thought for sure that some of those stubbles had grown out and were getting pulled away again.

The nurse finished and said, "Okay, not that bad? Next we need you to lay back down. We'll try to get the blood pressure back down along with your heart rate. The doctors will be in a while to check you." The nurse helped him get back in bed and covered him. She said, "Back in a while," and she left.

Sarah went over to Chuck. Getting beside the bed, she kissed him. It was a nice long tender kiss. When they broke from it, she said smiling "Might as well tailgate on the bandages."

Chuck smiled back, "Anytime." He pulled her on the bed, "Please, I did miss you." Sarah scrambled up beside him.

"I missed you too." Sarah added. "That was scary last night," she cuddled next to him.

Chuck kissed the top of her head, "Something for later. I better not try to think about it, if we want out of here."

Sarah looked up at him. She knew this was going to be bad. She'd have to talk to Doc Adams or Ellie about this. She knew Chuck was still thinking about doing something based on that flash. Maybe they could give him something while he typed it out on the laptop. She moved closer to him and put her hand lightly on his chest, "Love you."

**Casa Bartowski**

Casey was rolling over in the bed. He opened an eye to check the clock. It was late, but they had stayed up waiting for Kayle's team to get in from Seattle. They didn't get back from the airport until 1:30 and still had to stow their equipment. They had slept in, but nature was calling. Deciding the best move was a pit stop; Casey slipped out of bed and went to the bathroom. Coming back he thought he made it without waking her.

Mary had made the same decision. As Casey was slipping back into bed, Mary headed for the bathroom. Casey rolled over and watched her leave. He was happy that everything went well when they left San Diego. When he heard that the other two teams had problems, he knew they would have a difficult route. Escaping with only one significant injury was close to a miracle with as many shooters lined their passage. He remembered looking back at Mary's van to make sure they were going to make it. The Cobras made the difference. He was happy that he made that call. He also reflected that without the heads up from Chuck they would have all been trapped…and possibly. Mary came back in and slipped back in bed. Casey had been mulling it over all night. He knew he finally resolved that he was the right thing. Casey decided it was time to remember why again.

Later Mary had her head resting on Casey's chest. She looked up at him, "You know we need to check in on Chuck. Without him we may…"

Casey put his fingers over her lips, "I know. But for now, I am happy that I have you." He rubbed his hand lightly over the bandages on her face and neck. He smiled at her, "You know when we get done with this, well…"

Mary looked at his eyes. She smiled coyly and said, "What?"

"If you ever tell this to anyone…but like I said before, I love you," Casey explained. He reached down to kiss her. His head was whirling, he was thinking of picket fences, grocery runs, and normal. Retirement was coming up soon. He knew getting a star, was so remote. And life with a remote and Johnnie Walker was not really what he wanted after this. He broke the kiss and said, "What if we stayed together?" He saw her reaction as she was raising up to look at him. He corrected that, "No, I don't mean that. I mean, well would you consider marrying me?"

It was a reaction he did not expect. Mary jumped on him and then grabbed him so hard he could hardly breathe. She said, "Yes," kissed him; and did it again three more times.

**West Side Medical**

Doctor Weidman came in the room to see Chuck. Sarah was with him, now sitting in the chair beside him. Doc Weidman went to the other side of the bed. He looked at the charts and the monitors again. After checking him one more time with the Stethoscope he said, "We are going to send you home again. You know the conditions. Anything happens and you come back here." He continued to explain the small surgery and what they found. He went on to explain the medications and their effects. He ended with, "Any questions?"

Chuck realized the problem he'd have if he asked about working. He knew there were some things he had to do to keep everyone safe. Chuck said, "No."

Sarah added, "No, thanks for everything. We'll keep him quiet." She could tell what Chuck was thinking. Keeping his heart rate down was going to be a real chore.

The nurse came in behind him and had a wheel chair. "Here's your ride. Are you ready to go?" she asked.

Chuck answered, "Yes, please." He started moving to the side of the bed.

Sarah called the protection detail, "We are getting ready to go. They are getting him in the wheel chair…. Okay, thanks." She looked over at Chuck, "We're ready. I'll call Casey to let him know that they don't need to head over here." She hit the speed dial for Casey, "Oh hi… Just wanted to let you know that we are heading over to apartments… He did what? Oh that's so good, congratulations. I am so happy. Thank you, that helps this morning… Right, we will be over in a couple minutes. Congratulations again… Yes, I understand. I'll tell Chuck, but we'll wait for the official announcement… Okay, bye."

Chuck could tell she was about to pop. Whatever Sarah had found from the phone call had made her radiant. He was sure he saw the face that Ellie normally had before her infamous squeals. He looked at her, "What?"

Sarah walked over and got behind the wheel chair. She nodded at the nurse and took over. Bending down she whispered in his ear, "Not official yet, but Casey asked Mary to marry him. She said yes. Casey doesn't want it to get out until he gets her the ring and in his words, 'makes it official.'"

Chuck turned his head so he could whisper back to her, "That's great. I mean really great. Tell them to take the day off."

Sarah nodded, "Okay." She got her phone again. "Hi. Yeah, we're fine. Chuck said, and I agree, we want you guys to take the day off… Well, I have to keep him quiet and his heart rate down, so he really won't be working today… I think that would be great… Please do. See you later. Bye." She bent down whispering, "That was Casey. He said they would. They will drop by later tonight."

Chuck kissed her, "Great." Chuck had a big smile. This seemed to make his day too.

Sarah looked up to the protection detail, "Okay, we are ready." She followed the detail out of the hospital and to the waiting van. After they helped Chuck get in the van she went around to the other side and got in.

Chuck watched and knew the driver would get her door. He waited for her to get in. She moved across the seat and got next to Chuck. She helped him with his seat belt and snapped it in. Chuck winced and took a deep breath. He got out, "Okay, next time I need to be on the other side." Sarah took his hand and he leaned against her.

**Casa Bartowski**

Casey hung up and Mary came in the room. Casey said, "That was Sarah. They said that we should take the day off. How about we go shopping?" He saw her face light up and decided that he would correct the situation, "I know a shop that you should like." Holding up his hand, "I need to set up the protection details first. Do you want to go to breakfast?"

"Sure, you want to go to that Dave's Diner. That was pretty good," Mary replied.

"Sounds good, just a second," Casey got the phone and outlined his plans to the lead of today's protection details. He put the phone down and said, "We are all set. They asked us to put vests on. Since we have not heard back from Chuck on the level of the threat, I agreed." Casey walked over to the locker in his wall and got out Mary's vest. He handed it to her and got out his.

Mary went back in the bedroom and put on a loose blouse to help cover the vest. She came back and was ready to go. "Okay, let's get going. I am a little hungry," Mary acknowledged.

**Out Shopping**

They went to the diner and had an enjoyable breakfast and moved to the next destination. The driver slowed at the curb and the guard at shotgun got out to get Mary's door. Casey got out of the van from the other side. He went around the front of the van and got her arm. Mary was beaming.

When they walked into the building the bell at the door jingled. The older gentleman behind the counter stood up and moved up to where Casey was standing, "Can I help you?"

Casey knew what he was looking for. He had got the rings they used when the team went to the suburbs. Sarah seemed to like that ring and he thought he would start with that for Mary. "Yes, we are looking for an engagement ring for her. I was thinking of starting with your round cut 2 carat rings."

Mary looked at Casey, "You've done this before?"

Casey got close to Mary and whisper, "For Chuck and Sarah." He moved back and pointed to the round cut rings in the case beside them. "I think they have the best sparkle," he took the ring offered by the jeweler, "but it is up to you."

The jeweler heard that and said, "Here let me show you what they are like side by side. You have the round cut. Here is the same size with an emerald cut and then here's an oval cut. I have a couple more the same size. Here is a princess and marquise." He saw that Mary was still studying them. She did not appear to have the smile that goes with the special one. "So, you know there are several ways of cutting the diamond. With the round diamonds you can get certificates to show how the diamond is proportioned to give off the most sparkle. And in some the mounting makes a difference in the appearance. Here's a little variation on each." The jeweler added another row with a ring that was slightly different above each of the first rings.

Mary pointed to the second row round cut ring. She thought it sparkled a little more than the others. She said, "That one does look like it has more sparkle."

The jeweler looked at the tags on the two round rings, "Very good, a few more lessons and we'll make a jeweler out of you. I do apologize. The ring you picked was to be the first one I was going to show you. They must have been out of position. But you are right, this is the better of the two. It has the better clarity and color rating."

Casey was starting to get nervous; he'd remembered that some of those characteristics meant doubling the price. He carefully watched as the jeweler looked at the tag on the one that Mary seemed to like. He had a sigh of relief when he saw that it was in the ballpark of what he was thinking.

The jeweler continued, "Okay, the next question is: are you happy with the setting?"

Mary looked at the ring. "Yes, I like it." She turned to Casey, "What do you think?"

Casey smiled, "That's fine. I think it will look good on you."

"One more thing, I need to get a size. Here, we will start with this one," the jeweler held out the sizing rings. After a few attempts they narrowed it down. He put down the sizing rings and went to his computer. "Okay, we have this mounting in your size. One last choice, you can select a loose stone that is like the one I showed you or I can transfer the stone from the ring you selected to the new mounting."

Mary decided right away, "I liked the one we looked at."

The jeweler looked at the clock, "Well, if you could come back in an hour, I'll have it ready."

Casey said, "That will be fine."

The jeweler printed out the order and had Casey sign it. He said, "Thank you; see you then."

**Casa Bartowski**

Dorothy and Doc Adams were getting Chuck settled in his new bed. Sarah was with Chuck and watching the activity. Dorothy had the couch in the living room taken out and had a special bed with adjustable settings put in its place. He would be able to sit up in bed, like a hospital bed.

Once they had Chuck in place and hooked up, Doc Adams started in again, "You can't let your heart rate go up. We don't have a report in a medical journal to rely on but we are fairly certain that it is linked to the HF. We think based on the concentration of HF in the fluid we pulled from your chest that it will be another ten days before the HF will no longer be a problem. All that means your lungs could rupture again. That will force another operation, and right now that is too risky.

"Do you have anything you need or any questions?" Doc concluded. He looked over to Sarah, "Do you have any questions? I don't want to frighten you, but this is really serious. Oh, one other thing. It should be obvious, but I don't think we ever said it. We are keeping him out of the hospital to avoid any infections. There is still enough flu and colds going around the city to be concerned. The obvious part is that we can't have anyone from the team with a cold or flu come in contact with him. I'll brief them on that and his condition this morning." He looked at Sarah and saw that she was okay. "Okay, see you later."

Dorothy said, "I'm just going to be in the conference room. If you need anything, just buzz."

Chuck waited until they had left the room, "Okay, we are in serious trouble. Please tell the teams that we have today to collect as much as we can from the surveillance and process it through the model. I know I cannot do anything today. I'll try not to think about it so I can heal."

_A/N Had to do it. Casey needed a little extra. Hope you enjoyed._


	8. Chapter 8 the Protection

Let us do something, while we have the chance.

Still don't own Chuck.

"Sometimes it helps to know that you got something to lose."  
--Agent Walker Episode 3.4

Chapter 8—the Protection

**Casa Bartowski**

Chuck told Sarah what they needed to do. He said that he would rest today, but that tomorrow he would have to be ready for work. She was conflicted. Doc Adams had already explained to Sarah the real risk. A collapsing lung on top of a heart that was already beating too fast could be fatal. Chuck had also explained that the Snakeheads from overseas were now moving in to take over the Halverson's territory. Their first targets would be their teams. He also explained that the flashes were still coming. They were extensive and extremely disturbing.

Sarah knew this would not be easy. When the Doc and Dorothy had left the room that morning, Chuck had started his explanation. His recognition of the problems that were coming along with two flashes raised his heart rate by twenty beats per minute. She had told him to stop and immediately rushed to his side. She worked for twenty minutes getting him to calm down.

Sarah was running her fingers through his hair and lightly leaning against him. She asked, "Are you alright? I'll go up and get things started. But I want you to take a nap, please."

"I'm good. Go ahead. We need to get them started," Chuck gave her a kiss and a little push.

Sarah got off the bed and looked at him, "Nap, right?"

"Yes," he closed his eyes hard and pulled up the covers. He heard her walk away, but it wasn't that much longer and he was asleep. The medications he was using could still put him to sleep at any time.

Sarah walked into the conference room and everyone crowded around her. They had just heard the briefing from Doc Adams but everyone was still alternating the questions between how was Chuck and how was she.

Sarah stepped to the front of the room and said, "Chuck and I really appreciate all you have done for us. Thank you all. As you know Chuck cannot join us. But there are some things that we need to start working. Here's an outline of what we need." She became to outline and detail what need to be done. She covered the surveillance that had been completed and the feeds that were still active. Then she went over the details that she wanted from the interviews and interrogations of the people from Seattle. Then she explained that she wanted a briefing package so that she could go through it with Chuck a little bit at a time. Finally she said, "I want a few of you to work together on a defensive posture. I want you to start considering options. Bring the detail team chiefs in on this. And include the options in the briefing. Thank you again."

Sarah stopped to talk with Steven and Alice. Sarah started with Alice, "We gave Casey and Mary the day off. They are not supposed to work this. If they show up, tell them to get out. We'll get them up to speed tomorrow."

She said to Steven, "You know what Chuck is looking for more than any of us."

Steven took her hands, "I know. We'll get this ready for you. Don't worry about it. You go take care of Chuck."

Sarah replied, "Thank you, Dad."

Steven gave her a hug. He answered, "Don't worry, Darling." With watery eyes she left the conference room.

By the time she got down to the apartment and Chuck she had been full out crying. She knew Chuck was suffering but this was really the first time that everyone was pulling for her. She hadn't expected to react that much to Steven's hug.

Chuck was awake when she came in, and noticed she had been crying, "What's wrong?"

Sarah walked over to the bed and got in with him, "Nothing. Your family is so nice. Your dad is going to take care of things. He made me realize how much that hurt when he left you and how much it means to have a family. You know, I love you and everything about you." She did not get to continue, he smothered her with a kiss.

Alice began following up on the plans Sarah had laid out. Tom and Vera were talking with the Detail Lead to set up the drive to the facility where Melina was staying. Alice had already sent an email to Jim Henry asking him to get back with her. She needed details from the girls he was transporting. The Chief and LT were going to check on the other girls. They were planning to do the interviews from Castle. Brad was going to get the reports from the FBI on the Fulcrum agent. Kayle and Lea were going to work with the protection details on defensive options. Kristen, Eldie, and Liz were going to go over the surveillance and make their inputs. Liz realized they were going to need a lot of help. She worked with Steven to shift huge blocks of data input to Mr. Wiggins and Sarah's analysts.

**FBI Safe House**

Tom and Vera were passengers in the van that pulled up to one of the FBI safe houses. The protection detail deployed and contacted the safe house guards. They set up crossing surveillance points and let the van driver know it was safe for his passengers. The driver got Vera's door. Tom met her and they went into the building. There were another set of guards and then a sliding door that opened based on a button the guards pushed.

They were met by an FBI agent in the room behind the door, he said, "Welcome, to our little home away from home. As you may have guessed, this is a safe house and we would like to keep it that way. Please keep the location confidential, but more importantly when you go back to where ever you came from, please use a different route. Now, the…huh, patient we have is still having some problems. We have had our doctors over to treat her and they gave her some methadone as a first step. As the Agent Polk, I have been working with the Bureau. We have not come to agreement on her disposition. I hope to have a better answer in an hour or so. Remember to ask me when you get done with the interview." He pushed another button and the next door opened.

Tom and Vera walked through alone. Tom did not see it coming, the young girl almost threw herself at him. He was looking down the hall to the right when she almost tackled him from the left.

"Thank you for coming," Melina rushed. She had wrapped herself around Tom. Looking over at Vera she backed off. "Sorry, you're Vera, right?"

Vera extended her hand, "Yes, are they treating you okay?" Vera was a little concerned that something was going wrong and that possibly the FBI was trying to interrogate Melina.

"Oh yes, I apologize. They have been every nice. Their doctors treated me and were very kind. I have no problems with them. The problem appears to be with my government. They have not been all that forthcoming. Tom, I am sorry, but you guys are the only hope I have. I don't know what to do," Melina started looking at the floor.

Vera moved a little closer and got Melina's attention, "We will get something fixed for you." She turned to Tom, "How about you go check in and see what is possible?"

Tom nodded. He agreed that Vera needed to talk with Melina to get any credible information. He would go see if there was anything that could be done. He squeezed Melina's hand, "I'll go see what we can do. Vera needs to talk with you and get as much information as we can about the people who held you. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Tom walked to the door and knocked. It opened almost immediately. The agent motioned to him. He said, "First, her government doesn't seem to want her back. They are not inclined to support her after we release her either. And so you know, it would appear my agency is wrestling with the problem. And well, bottom line, we may have to release her tomorrow. I was hoping for an answer by the time you left, but the last email was returned with an out-of-office reply."

Tom was inclined to just tear into the agent, but realized it was not his fault. He was probably doing his best. Tom replied, "I'll need to call my boss and probably should do it from the van. Excuse me. If Vera comes out, let her know where I am." Tom went out the next door and walked briskly to the van.

The driver was there waiting and opened the door, "Everything alright?"

"Yes, need to check in with the boss and get something resolved. But protection wise, we are okay," Tom answered. He climbed in the back seat and got out his cell. "Tom secure…Alice we have a problem…" Tom explained the situation and end with, "There are so many problems with this. Is there anything we can do?"

**Casa Bartowski**

Alice realized this was something Sarah or Chuck would have to answer. She didn't want to disturb them but knew that waiting for tomorrow might be too late. She remembered a couple times where her home agency would take actions that she thought should have been done differently. Even though they were a bureaucracy in their own, the Bureau could move fast. Alice answered, "I hope so. I'll have to ask Sarah. I'll call you back as soon as I get an answer."

Alice told Kayle that she had to go check with Sarah about a problem that came up. She left the conference room and went to the front door of Sarah and Chuck's apartment. She knocked softly on the door hoping that she would get Sarah and not wake both of them. Alice was totally surprised when Chuck answered the door. Her first words were, "Oh my, I didn't mean to get you up." She remembered the briefing from this morning and reached down to the small table by the front door and got a protective mask. She quickly put it on.

Chuck said, "Its fine." He knew from the look on her face that this is like really important. He wanted to stop her from leaving. She was already starting to backtrack and turn. "Its fine Alice, come in and I'll get Sarah," Chuck watched first to make sure she came in the apartment. "Here have a seat. I am fine, please don't worry." Chuck saw that Sarah had gotten up and quickly intervened, "Alice has something important that only we can decide." He smiled at Sarah and saw that she smiled back and nodded.

Alice was definitely torn. She knew Chuck probably had not heard the details from each of the teams' extraction. And she was worried the details about Melina could trigger something. She got up from her seat and went over to Sarah. She whispered, "Sarah, I am sorry. But it's about Melina."

Sarah moved back a bit and looked at Alice, "I'll come up with you. Chuck, please get back to bed. And I'll be right back."

Chuck looked a little sheepish, "Okay so much for privacy, but I have to go to the restroom."

"Right, we'll help," Sarah hurried.

Chuck looked at Sarah like all hope had been lost, "Sarah?"

She smiled, "Yes, I'll help. Alice, just a second please." Sarah stepped up beside Chuck and began helping him to the restroom. "So, why were you up and trying to go by yourself?"

"I was trying not to wake you. I know you hardly had any sleep last night. But I'll wait for you from now on," he said as he squeezed her a little. "I always did like this part." He got a little swat in the rear when he got to the restroom.

Once she got him set and his IV hung, she said, "You okay?"

"Yes, sorry. Just a second," Chuck responded as the door closed.

Alice watched the interaction and smiled. Sarah noticed and smiled back. Just as Chuck said he wasn't that long and he was opening the door.

Chuck knew that the decision waiting for Sarah was probably critical, if Alice would wait around through all of this. He knew he was guessing, but it had to be something that another agency would not do something they needed. When he got back to the bed and sat down, he said, "Tell her yes. Whatever it is, we'll take care of it."

Sarah nodded but watched him wince a couple times as he got in the bed. She put the IV back and pushed the meds button, "I just pushed the button for you. Don't wait so long, okay? It may make tomorrow harder. I'll be back in a minute. Please try to take a nap." Sarah turned and walked out with Alice.

When they got in the courtyard, Alice said, "I didn't mean to cause such a fuss. I thought he would be asleep and didn't want to wake him with a phone call."

Sarah quickly replied, "Good point, I'll have the cell on buzz from now on. Call that first."

They were soon in the conference room. Alice explained the situation. Sarah asked, "Can we get Tom up on a conference line with us? I want to discuss this with him too." Alice had Eldie set it up.

Sarah began, "So the Agent Polk said that she would likely get released tomorrow?"

Tom replied, "Yes, and he looked rather perplexed. I think he is doing the most he can for her, but he is not getting any answers. I think the reluctance of her government has something to do with this. Look I suspect you have already talked this over, but if they release her and she gets captured. Well, after they torture her for whatever she can tell them about us, I would expect…"

"Tom, I know. We have been dealing with that for a while. Now Alice, what are you suggesting we do?" Sarah wanted to see what Alice thought since Melina was now in FBI control. Sarah was also at her laptop and busily typing an email to her boss.

"Well, the way I saw it was that we either take her or take over. I think if we took her away from the FBI right now, we would likely have more problems with the local FBI. Remember they would not cooperate that much when we started. It will get worse." Alice switched positions and added, "So, the better move would be to take over the operation of holding and protecting her. If we can use the Interagency Task Force role, we should not have any problems."

Sarah thought for a moment, "Okay, here's what we'll do. I'll call the LA SAC and let him know that for national security reasons we need to take over Melina's care and protection. I'll let him know that we would like to temporally use the people he currently has assigned to her. That way we can hopefully not call any extra attention to the switch. Then I would like Doc Adams and Dorothy to check her and assume the responsibility for her well being. As soon as we can, double the protection on her. Alice, please coordinate that action. Can you think of anything else?"

Both Tom and Alice said no. Sarah sent her email to Director Robins, CIA and the LA SAC with copies to the FBI Director, Chuck's boss at ODNI, and Casey's boss at SOCOM. She knew this was going to take a little to get set up.

Sarah got up and went over to Steven, "Dad, could you go keep Chuck company for awhile? You can tell him about what you are doing to input the data. Just, please don't get into the details of the data itself. He is still flashing on parts of it from the other night."

Steven patted her on the shoulder, "Don't worry, I'll take care of him."

She picked up the conference room phone and called the direct number to the LA SAC. "Good afternoon, this is Director Walker. Can we go secure?" Sarah explained the situation and that the Task Force would take over the responsibility for Melina. The SAC gave her the run down from their side. It appeared that the decision on this was being made at the Bureau and they were having problems with their lawyers. They ended the call on good terms.

Sarah got Alice's attention, "I think you heard most of that. He agreed and I don't think we will have any problems. The decision on Melina was being worked by the FBI lawyers. Apparently there was a concern over getting sued for false imprisonment. And since her government wasn't taking a stand, they could not say they were assisting. Now that we have declared it a national security problem, they can support us. Have Tom discuss the arrangements with the Agent Polk. Is there anything else?"

Alice thought for a second and asked, "So what do we do if this happens to the other girls? And I guess either set of them?"

Sarah looked at her and then smiled, "It should be the same. We can't let them be released and captured. But please check to see what is happening with them. I'll send a note to Director Robins to let him know and copy you. Then if you have that problem, just reply with a follow-up and arrange to take charge of them. Anything else?"

Alice came over to Sarah and took her hand, "That's all. Sorry to take you away from Chuck."

Sarah continued to smile, "No problem. If something else comes up, call the cell. See you in the morning." Sarah walked out of the conference room. She was very happy. Chuck was right, tell her yes and then take care of it. And the SAC agreed.

She was beaming when she got down to the apartment. When she went in Chuck and Steven were in a discussion over some software logic and how it would work. Chuck looked over at her and saw that glowing face.

Chuck smiled back, "So you fixed it?"

Sarah was almost bubbling, "Yes, we'll tell you about it tomorrow."

Steven got up and said, "Well, I can see you need to celebrate. See you tomorrow. Aces."

Sarah gave Steven a hug, "Thanks again from coming down." She walked him to the door. Then she went over to Chuck and climbed in bed beside him. She kissed him and continued until she thought they were going to set off the monitor alarm.

Alice continued with her checks. She went over to the Chief and asked, "What is the status of the three girls?"

The Chief had heard what was happening with Melina. He replied, "I checked when we started. They are to be held indefinitely. Right now it is a question of whether to put them in witness protection or not. I will call back and tell them to notify us if anything changes."

Then Alice went over to Brad, "Can you confirm that the FBI is going to continue to hold the Fulcrum agent?"

Brad held up the hardcopy of the report, "They have him on kidnapping and human trafficking. They know he is also Fulcrum and are verifying whether to invoke treason. He will not be leaving."

Alice went over to her laptop to catch up with her emails and specifically look for a reply from Jim Henry. She got the email and reviewed it. She sent back a reply and told him to hold and protect the girls. She called him next but only got his voice mail. Next, she pulled up the email from Sarah and hit reply all. She explained the situation and asked that the FBI confirm the girls would be protected or if that was not possible, that they be turned over the Task force. She reread it and hit send.

After that Alice used the same phone that Sarah had and called Director Robins. She started the same way Sarah had, "Good afternoon, this is Agent Kazan. Can we go secure?" Alice explained the situation to Director Robins.

_A/N Hope you enjoyed. Little more Casey coming up in the next Chapter._


	9. Chapter 9 the Library

Let us do something, while we have the chance.

Still don't own Chuck.

"Sometimes it helps to know that you got something to lose."  
--Agent Walker Episode 3.4

Chapter 9—the Library

**Casa Bartowski**

Chuck was smiling through the smothered mouth. He was trying as hard as he could to keep his heart rate down. He thought he was doing well and it was pure bliss to him. He hadn't been able to hold Sarah like this for it seemed many days. He knew Sarah was particularly happy about something. The way Sarah kissed him brought that happiness through very clearly.

Sarah had gotten into the bed and snuggled up beside Chuck then reached over to kiss him. The kiss remained an easy mixture of comfort and love. She was not pressing, but was completely happy when he stiffed to his left side so he could face her and pulled her into him. He had his arms wrapped around her. She turned on her side and wrapped herself around him. Her legs entwined with his and her arms holding him.

Chuck kept thinking he could hold out a little longer, but the pain in his side was slowly building. His left side had taken the most damage but it had always left better to have Sarah hold him there. He knew he was losing the battle with the heart rate too.

Both of them started to pull away at the same time. Sarah could feel the increase in Chuck's heart rate and reluctantly knew it was time. Sarah murmured, "You okay?" She saw him press the pain button for a release of medications.

Chuck tried to pull her back close, "Yeah, just stayed on that side a bit too long. Here, if you could move next to me." Chuck put his left arm above the pillows and Sarah stayed on her side but came next to him. She put her hand up to his chin and wrapped a leg across his. "Okay, everything is better. Can you tell me why you were so happy when you came back?"

"Sure, you were right. I told her yes and that we'll take care of it. It was as easy as that. Everyone should be safe and I actually made a few people happy in the process. But the explanations will come tomorrow. Today, you are still to rest," she smiled at him.

"You know I will. Actually with the pain medications I don't have much choice," he smiled back at her.

"Well, I'll nap too, if you do," Sarah was very tired. She had not gotten much sleep the days before.

Chuck put his hand on hers, "Sounds like a plan." He closed his eyes and was drifting into a long afternoon nap. Sarah followed quickly.

Alice was completing the actions to ensure the girls they had collected in Seattle were safe and being protected. Alice had sent an email back to FBI Agent Jim Henry to ask him to hold and protect the girls. When she was not able to get a response she sent an email asking that the FBI confirm the girls would be protected or if that was not possible, that they be turned over the Task force. Then she called Director Robins and explained the situation.

Director Robins listened to the explanation and answered, "I'll be seeing the FBI director at a dinner tonight. I'll confirm that they are taking responsibility. Meanwhile, I'll send a team to consult with the FBI. If the FBI cannot confirm that they will protect the girls, we will take responsibility and turn them over to you as a part of the task force."

Alice listened carefully to what the director was saying, "Sir, it would be best if we could avoid any outward appearances that the task force was involved. If we do take the responsibility, please ask that Agent Henry and his team be assigned to us on a temporary basis."

Kelly replied, "Yes, we will do that. We will set it up like Sarah did for Miss Habana. Anything else?"

Alice replied, "No sir."

"Well, I have a couple. I am getting copies of the reports on Chuck's condition, but how is Sarah doing, and please call me Kelly."

Alice was a bit torn by the question. She decided that she would give her impression, "Sarah is doing well. She is keeping up with us and more importantly, she is helping Chuck. Chuck and Sarah are resting today. And I think that is a good thing for them."

Kelly ended, "Alice, you are doing good job. Please keep it up. Thanks for the updates. We will make sure the girls are protected. Call again, if you need anything."

Alice answered, "Thank you," and heard the call end.

Alice was pleased. Next she got on the phone with Tom explained what was happening and told him to check in with Agent Polk. He was to ensure everything was set and then come back with Vera to help get all the data into the model. Alice looked back at Jim Henry's email and entered the data that was included into the model. She continued that afternoon to ensure that everyone was able to complete their inputs.

**FBI Safe House**

Tom was wondering what was taking so long, but was happy with the phone call from Alice. He ended the call and walked back rapidly to the safe house. He found Agent Polk at the entry point. Tom went to him first, "Did you receive word that you are to continue to protect Melina?"

Agent Polk held up a copy of the email, "Yes, rather extraordinary. I assume you are a part of this task force?"

Tom held out his badge again and flipped open the case showing his ID as a member of the Interagency Task Force, "Yes, Sky Marshall Townsman is also a member. The arrangement is that the details you have covering Melina will continue. There is to be no interruption. Do you have any problems with that?"

Agent Polk answered, "None at all. I think this will work out. Tell your boss that we think they made the right decision." Agent Polk opened the first door and then walked backed to the second door so that Tom could go back to Vera.

When Tom walked in the door, Melina stood up and looked at him. She was hopeful. He smiled and said, "Yes."

Melina walked quickly over to Tom and almost knocked him down. She hugged him and said thank you repeatedly and then went to Vera and did the same. Once she calmed down she said, "Really thank you, I know they would have picked me up after I had been released. Their tattoos are not just art, they are a promise. I've been held too long and seen the results of their justice four times. Anyone of the girls that you released are candidates for the same kind of justice. You are going to protect them too, right?"

Tom answered, "Yes that was why this took a little longer. Our bosses have ensured that all the girls are safe. You'll stay here for awhile and the FBI agents that have been protecting you will continue. We can get you anything you need but you have to stay here."

Melina replied, "Oh everything is fine. They have a few sets of clothes for me. There is enough food in the refrigerator to last for days. I'll be fine."

Tom looked at Vera. She nodded that she was ready. Tom said, "Well, we have to leave and get a few other things done. We'll come back." He was about to turn and leave when Melina came over, gave him a hug and kissed his cheek. She did the same with Vera.

Tom and Vera checked again with Agent Polk to make sure they had phone numbers for anything that happened. They headed back to the apartments so that they could get the information into the model.

**Simi Valley **

Casey was elated. He knew Mary was the one. After they picked out the ring he asked her, if she would go, "There is one thing I promised myself that I would do if I ever got a day off while I was out here. I would like you to come with me and for it to be our first real outing."

Mary looked at him, "Okay, I wish I knew, but I don't. What do you want to do?"

"I like to take you to the Ronald Reagan Library. It is not too far, just over in Simi Valley," Casey asked.

Mary remembered the picture and other Reagan memorabilia Casey had in his apartment. She looked at him and realized this was one of his dreams, "Of course, you know I went to his second inauguration. Dad and well, most of the family was there. We actually made it into the Capitol Rotunda. I was just a little girl and don't really remember much. But Grandpa always talks about it. It was quiet a drill getting everyone inside. But that sounds like a great idea."

Casey felt like he had found gold or maybe something better. His smile was bigger than his face. He came over to Mary and wrapped his arms around her. He hugged her, lifted her up, and gave her a big kiss.

She looked at him smiling, "You looking to do something else first?"

Casey's eyes went wide, "No. You need to know I love you. This will be great." The protection detail was alerted and Casey and Mary got in the van. They went back to the apartment and pick up clothes for the dinner and then back to the jeweler. After picking up the ring, it was a fairly quick trip over to the library.

Casey opened the door for Mary and took her arm. He was still feeling like he was on cloud nine. They saw the statue of President Reagan in the lobby of the library. Walking over to the reception desk, Casey looked at the lady that was sitting there. She got up when she saw Casey and Mary coming, "Oh, welcome to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. I am Susan Lawton."

Casey was expecting that the library people would know they were coming. The protection detail had to coordinate the visit and let the library security know they would be augmented. The detail lead reported to Casey that there were no problems as the library has distinguished visitors with extra security or a regular basis.

Casey offered his hand, "I am Colonel John Casey. This is Special Agent Mary Ramirez. Neither of us has been here before. We are just visiting."

Susan shook Casey's hand and then Mary's hand. "Well, then you are in store for a treat, because you are going to get an escorted tour."

Mary thought Casey was truly the kid in the candy shop. He was so interested and excited about everything that it caught her. She became interested in all of the details. It seemed like they were walking to every part of the library.

Susan opened the door to the next room, "Here we have the replica of the oval office as it was when President Reagan was in office. As you can see the center piece of the office is the Resolute Desk."

Mary did look at the room but was almost more interested in the pure happiness on Casey's face. Susan continued to point out the details. The Reagan flag was folded to display the eagle's claw with olive branch as opposed to the current presentation of arrows. Mary was sure that Casey was standing at attention. Susan pointed out the pictures and the various western sculptures. Mary had been silent most of the time. Other than saying thank you along the way Casey did not say anything. At one display, Mary stopped for a long time looking at one set of pictures.

Mary said to Casey, "That sure does look like Mom and Dad." It was a set of pictures from the 1985 Inaugural Ball showing the Reagan's waving to the crowd. "I think that, "she pointed to two faces in the crowd, "is them. They went to the ball that night. I remember getting dressed up for dinner but then not getting to go dancing." She held on to Casey before they proceeded.

Next they went to the pavilion with the plane that President Reagan used as Air Force One. Casey almost would not leave. Casey went to every room and spent quite awhile in the cockpit and the communications bay. Mary had to ask him twice if he was coming. Finally, they went out and looked at the piece of the Berlin Wall.

On the way back through the library they stopped at the store. Casey got Mary the box set of Ronald Reagan movies. Mary got Casey a stature of Ronald Reagan holding a saddle. She said smiling broadly, "It will be a good reminder of when we saddled up."

Casey and Mary thanked Susan for such a wonderful time and for the tour. They walked out to their van hand in hand. Having already retrieved their clothes from the apartment, they stopped along the way to change. Casey was very happy with Mary's selection. She looked great.

The restaurant was on the beach. Casey opened the van door for Mary and held her arm as they went into the restaurant. They were offered a seat at the windows overlooking the bay. The waiter came and offered them the special of the night, a classic crab cakes, chopped spinach salad, filet and Maine lobster tail, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, and for desert Strawberry Crème Brulee. The waiter offered what he thought was the best wine for their selection, an Australian Vintage Chardonnay. Casey offered a toast and Mary returned it.

While waiting for the Brulee, Casey began, "I wanted to have a real day to do this. Not just rush through it. For me it has been truly a day to remember and this is the high point." Casey got on his knee beside Mary, opened the box, and got out the ring. "Mary, you know I love you. You mean everything to me. I would be very honored and extremely happy if you would marry me. Would you marry me?"

Mary slipped the ring on and said, "Yes." She kissed his hands and when he bent to her she kissed him, a very loving and passionate kiss. She added, "Casey, this has been a very special day to me. Thank you. I love you so much."

The remainder of the meal was spent holding each other's hand. Casey was his usual gallant self and held Mary's arm while walking out to van. The ride back to the apartments was in silence as Mary smothered Casey in kisses.

**Casa Bartowski**

Casey and Mary went directly to Sarah and Chuck's apartment. Casey knocked on the door.

Sarah opened it. She saw the smiles on both of their faces. Without a word she gave Casey a hug and then Mary, "Congratulations. This is so great. I am so happy for you."

Casey managed, "Thanks."

Mary said, "It is so wonderful." Mary showed Sarah the ring, then looking at Casey, "But it has been a really great day."

Casey went over to the bed where Chuck was. Chuck held out his hand, "Congratulations big guy. I am glad you ask. This is really great."

Casey answered, "Thank you."

Mary went over to the bed and Chuck tried to move up in the bed to greet her. She met him with a hug. Chuck kissed her cheek, "Congratulations. I mean really, I am happy for you."

Sarah already had a bottle of Champagne prepared and glasses for three. There was a bottle of water for Chuck. Sarah asked, "Casey, will you open the champagne?"

Casey got the bottle open without too much loss. Sarah poured for the three of them and then gave Chuck a glass with water. Chuck held his glass, "Again congratulations. May your lives together be happy and blessed."

Both Casey and Mary said thanks.

"So what all did you do today?" Sarah asked. She was hoping that Casey came up with something exciting. She knew that she had not given them much time to get anything set.

Casey started the description which was surprising to both Chuck and Sarah, "We went to the jeweler's where we got your ring for the mission in the suburbs. The owner was real nice. He had the ring ready in an hour."

Mary held the ring up for Chuck to see. Chuck commented, "Very nice."

Mary then continued, "We came back to get our clothes for tonight, picked up the ring, and went to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. It's real close. I am not sure but I had always thought it was further. Anyway, we were met at the door and given a really great tour. I thought it was very, very nice. I had gone to President Reagan's second inauguration and seeing pictures of that and everything else was a very special. I am very happy that we went." Mary looked at Casey, "It made a memorable day."

Sarah smiled, "That sounds so nice. You did get something to eat?"

Casey smiled, "We went to the same restaurant Chuck use to propose, only up at Malibu." He held up his glass to Chuck, "I liked your selection."

"And it was very good," Mary said. "Casey proposed there. This has been such a great day." She hugged Casey. Mary then asked, "So, how are you guys doing?"

Sarah answered, "Good, we're good. We had a nap this afternoon and that really helped."

Casey asked looking at Chuck, "So, are you going to be able to handle tomorrow?" Both Sarah and Mary looked at Casey like he was trying to push Chuck.

"We'll find out tomorrow," Chuck looked at him with determination in his eyes.

_A/N Hope you enjoyed. _

_For this story, we have already gone AU. I mean having Sarah and Chuck as Directors is definitely AU. I started this storyline with Casey being in the Air Force. That's from first season comments about him being a pilot of a stealth fighter (F-117). And then his infatuation with the future bomber in Chuck vs the Cougars. Now I know things were thrown off because his Spy Dossier on the NBC Chuck site shows him as being in the Army (still does). Then this season they have gone full blown to show him as a Marine. But for this story I'll keep him in the Air Force. _


	10. Chapter 10 the Attack Begins

Let us do something, while we have the chance.

Still don't own Chuck.

"Sometimes it helps to know that you got something to lose."  
--Agent Walker Episode 3.4

Chapter 10—the Attack Begins

**Casa Bartowski**

Chuck woke up feeling a little fuzzy. Before his eyes opened his nose was being tickled by something. He peaked out with one eye and saw the puffy gold in front of his nose and blocking the view of anything else below. He carefully brought his right hand to rub his nose and push the hair down a bit. After completing that mission, he strained to get another pillow under his head and shoulders. He was extremely happy with that he was successful and hadn't woken her. He remembered what this day was going to bring and could not help himself. He wanted to hold her and kiss her and not let her go.

Sarah smiled a peaceful bliss. She had what she wanted, a calm morning with Chuck, her love. She could hardly believe it. It felt so peaceful. There was no running to protect each other, no fears that one of their team members would get hurt. It was just Chuck and Sarah holding each other. She felt him shift and begin to hold her more and more tightly. Feeling his light kisses on her head she began to move her body closer and wrap her leg over him.

They looked into each other's eyes at the same time. Sarah began, "You know I love you and this. It is so peaceful this morning. Mum…" She began to squeeze back into Chuck.

"I know. And you know this would be the thing I want to do forever." The he smiled, "Well except for… the bandages, breathing tube and IV. Oh, I could do without the cast too."

Sarah looked up at him with a smile, "Well, how about this instead?" She moved up a little to kiss him and closed her eyes in a passionate kiss.

"Gently…mum…gently," Chuck began.

Sarah thought he meant the kiss. But her hand was pressing on the bad rib and the pain was increasing. His kiss became ridged and his jaw locked. He got out one more 'gently.'

Sarah looked up into his eyes which closed in pain, "Oh, Chuck." She realized she had been pushing on his chest. She quickly unwrapped herself and pulled back.

"It's okay. Honest, it's okay. Please come back, I don't want to start the day like this. Please?" Chuck pleaded. As she came back to him, she was careful not push on the wrong spot. He carefully cradled her, "Better. I want you to help me today." He saw her look at him like he had hurt her, "I didn't mean you need to help or don't help. I love you and know you will always support me. But this will be hard for both of us today. Just so you know, I am afraid that if I can't connect all the information and give you the necessary information that some of our…"

Sarah put two fingers over his lips, "Ah, I know. I'm afraid of what you will do or let happen."

He took her hand and kissed it, "Sarah, this is not one of the old Casey ploys for the greater good. It's Casey, Mary, Alice and all of our team." He held her tightly, "But you know that. Sorry I am just rambling. Please let me hold you for a while."

Sarah knew exactly what he meant. She was afraid too. She carefully wrapped her herself around him and held on.

In Casey's apartment, they were wrapped in each other's arms too. Casey was just starting to stretch. Mary was pulling back to him and put her chin on his chest, "Hey, big guy. Good morning."

Casey pulled her up to him and kissed her, "Good morning. So you know and there is never a question, yesterday was great. Thanks you for everything."

"Well, thank you, I have never felt so great before," after she realized what she said, her smile gave it away. But her recovery was still quick, "Standing in front of a piece of the Berlin Wall, made me feel like we were a part of history."

Looking at the clock, Casey mumbled, "I'll show you a part of…"

A little over an hour later Doc Adams and Dorothy met with Sarah in the bedroom. Chuck had showered and Dorothy had put new bandages on him. With Dorothy's help and Sarah holding his arm, he sat down on the bed. Sarah had explained to the Doc and Dorothy what was intended for today.

Doc Adams waited until Chuck sat down, "Physically, you are a little better than you were yesterday. But you will not be completely free of the Fluoride for a while yet. As your doctor I should officially protest. But as a member of your team, I don't want any of our people hurt or worse. So, we will monitor you all day. While you're doing this, I want you to try something. If the flash seems like it is getting too long, I want you to try and stop it or come out of it."

Chuck looked at him like he was crazy, "And how am I suppose to do that?"

"Look the other night, the way Sarah described it you either kept flashing or processing the information. If this was a dream, I would want you to think about waking up. But with what you are used to, I think it would be better of thinking that you could save and close the file. But whatever, inside that flash I want you to work on shutting it down," Doc Adams raised his eye brow.

"I'll try, but no promises. Did you ask my dad about that? He might be able to tell us if he thinks that is even possible." Chuck added.

"Good idea, we'll do that," Doc replied.

Chuck looked at Sarah and got her hand, "Well, I guess we ought to get started. The bed downstairs would be easier to use."

"Here, we can help you down the stairs," offered Dorothy. She took his other hand.

Sarah got the IV bag and they headed down the stairs. Helping him in bed and raising the back, Sarah hooked up the laptop. She used her cell phone to call Mary, "Morning. Did you have a good night? Oh, that would be fine. We are getting set up down here and about to turn on the TV monitor. Are you ready to go? Okay, well it will be on. Start when you are set. Okay."

Sarah went over to get the remote and turned on the TV and set it to the correct channel. A picture of the people in the conference room came on. Sarah knew they were early but wanted to get Chuck settled. All of the teams were settling in and taking their places. Mary went to the front of the conference room.

With a time line behind her Mary began, "Day 0 is the day we withdrew from the surveillance sites. In preparation yesterday, we consolidated all our reports and surveillance and input the data into the model. Today is our planning day. Day 3, tomorrow, is the date of the expected shipment to San Diego. We'll begin today with a summary of the withdrawals. Each of the Team Leads will provide that information."

Alice stood up next. She began her explanation by referring to the previous night where the Fulcrum agent brought two girls to his room. Chuck nodded and Sarah told her to continue. Alice then detailed their withdrawal from the hotel and the capture of the Fulcrum agent. Alice said, "I have the pictures of the people and their names. Do you want to see them now or wait?"

Chuck answered, "Thanks for asking. I think it would be better to wait. Please let me go through your summaries of the events and then the output of the model. Then we'll go back and look at their happy faces."

Alice continued, "Well, the other part of the status report is that the Fulcrum agent is being held by the FBI for kidnapping and human trafficking. Their lawyers are considering a charge of treason. The thugs were released on bail and later found in another part of the city. It is believed they were executed. Autopsy reports are expected tomorrow.

"The Columbian agent is now in our control. She was the problem that I needed help with yesterday. The two daughters of the diplomats are being held in an undisclosed location until their parents or legal guardian can take responsibility. We did have a problem there. I could not initially contact the agent in charge and had to send an email to confirm that the FBI would confirm their security and protection. While Director Robins agreed that we would protect the girls if the FBI could not, we still have a legal review under way. The only thing that appears to help us right now is that the girls are under age and the FBI will not let them go until the parents or guardians come," Alice saw the anger of the team members in the conference room. It was a shocking revelation that helped them understand the evil nature of the people that ran trafficking. Casey was standing in back of Mary with his hands on her shoulders. He could feel her trembling at this news.

Chuck's face hardened, he understood the problem but he was not going to let some young girls get captured by these evil people again. He held his hand up. He was uncomfortable that the parents could show up at anytime, "So, I want to make sure I have this right. If the parents show up, the girls are released and we have no way of ensuring their protection?"

Alice answered, "Yes sir, that's right."

Chuck flinched at the 'sir' but right now he need to fix the problem as best he could, "Please wait a minute. What time was your email?" Chuck was already looking through his emails and expected to find a copy of the email from Alice. "Got it, if you guys want to take a break, this will take a couple minutes. Wait, are the others girls secure?"

Alice quickly replied, "The US Marshals still have them waiting for disposition instructions from their lawyers. They are being considered for witness protection."

"Okay, please give me ten minutes," Chuck ended.

Chuck began typing out an email to the Honorable John H. Wabash, his boss. It was short. He asked for support in securing the protection of the diplomats' daughters and suggested that John could call at anytime to discuss. He turned the screen so Sarah could see it. Chuck said, "Please check this. And do you agree?"

Sarah quickly read the email, "Yes, that's good." He hit send and Sarah gave him a kiss. He looked up at her and she replied, "What, we are on break."

Chuck smiled and reached over and kissed her back. Chuck kept smiling, "I know this is what you all wanted to hear, but I need to go to the restroom. Sorry." Chuck started to move out of the bed. Dorothy and Sarah began to help him. He got out of bed and with assistance made it to the restroom and back.

Sarah helped him get back in place, "Are you ready now?" She saw him nod. "Okay, I'll let them know." Sarah called Mary and said they were ready.

Kayle began his review, "We got out of our surveillance building just as the Fulcrum agents were coming over. We evacuated without any problem and do have footage of the Fulcrum agents as they shot out the camera. Oh, Master Chief Rusty McDonald from the Coast Guard in Portland said that we have their full support. Anytime we need anything to let them know. And," he smiled, "that Chief Scotts owes them one."

Chuck smiled, "Okay, we'll remember that. I'm glad we got you out of there in time."

Mary got up and began her review, "We were attacked twice as we left. Once with an attempted road block behind the warehouse we were staying at and another along our withdrawal route. The attackers were positioned on railroad cars that were beside the highway. Casey had Super Cobras in support that took out the opposition. Sergeant Fallon, one of our protection detail members, was wounded in the leg. He was released from the hospital this morning and will be on leave until he recovers, about three months. And a few of us were cut by flying glass.

"Finally, Kayle, Lea, and Major Garth developed some defensive options. They will go over those with Casey." Mary looked around the conference room, "Anything else?" Seeing that no one raised their hand she asked, "How do you want to work through the pictures?"

Chuck turned to Sarah and Doc Adams, "Would it be alright if Mary, Alice, and Casey came over and we went through the pictures? I don't think we need to tie everyone up. Is that alright?"

Doc Adams said, "Sure they have already been here. It's fine."

Sarah smiled at Chuck, "Mary did you hear that? Please come over with Casey and Alice and we will review the pictures here. Everyone else can add the new surveillance and begin to review the results of the model and start some initial planning."

While the others were getting over the apartment, Chuck and Sarah talked about how to do the pictures. They agreed at first he would do no more than two flashes and then take a rest. Doc Adams interjected that the flash should last no more than five minutes. If it went longer and the heart rate was elevated, he would inject an anesthetic strong enough to immediately put Chuck to sleep. He also said that if the rate started going over one hundred and thirty beats per minute he would use the injection.

Mary showed the first picture, "This is the Fulcrum agent…" She saw Chuck start to flash.

Sarah reached over to hold his hand.

Chuck began…the Fulcrum symbol, two murder charges, policeman's badge… Chuck said, "Joe Dalton, possible hit man for Fulcrum, had been an undercover cop when recruited. He could be the number two in Seattle right now. Nothing else of real significance." Chuck looked over at the meter, "Okay to look at another?"

Doc Adams nodded and Mary pulled up the next picture. It was Melina. There was a gasp from Sarah. Chuck flashed and continued. He started to hit the heart rate mark on flashing. Sarah started to put pressure on Chuck's hand. She could feel him squeeze back and came out of it.

Chuck looked over at Sarah, "You know her don't you? I'll let you deal with that part."

Sarah answered, "Her name then was Rosa Hernandez. She was the liaison for Bryce and I when we were down in Columbia on a mission. But I don't think that is related."

"I agree, but she is one of the good guys. She has been undercover so long that I am sure that she is likely having problems getting acknowledged," Chuck started talking quickly. "She had worked her way up in the Messer Schwarz organization. That or simply MS are the names used by the people we will be dealing with. They are far bigger than the Halverson crowd. MS is linked to Fulcrum and the Ring. How about we take a break while I type some questions for Melina? I would like them answered quickly. Also, I know she is secure, but I suggest moving her soon. Melina will be important enough for MS to pull all stops to find and eliminate her." Chuck began typing his questions.

Alice said, "Chuck, could you send those over to Tom and Vera? I'll have them get the ball rolling and get her moved."

"Okay, almost done," Chuck still had his head down typing away.

Alice called Tom and Vera and explained what they need to do. Casey called Major Garth and let him know to call up extra details and add them to the protection of Melina.

Chuck looked up at Alice, "Okay, you all got copies. I sent the questions to Tom and Vera. If I am asleep when we get the answers, please add them directly to the model database. I sent directions to Dad on how to handle it.

"Doc, how am I doing? Okay to start again?" Chuck asked.

"Your last flash peaked as though you were out on a fast jog. It was at over to ninety beats per minute. If you thought you were able to end the flash, keep working on it. But yes, you're ready to try another," the Doc acknowledged.

Mary put up the next picture. It was one of the diplomats' daughters. Chuck began flashing. Sarah was watching him. His heart rate began climbing almost immediately. Within the first minute he had already hit the ninety beats per minute.

Doc Adams watched the next minute and started to shake his head, "Another minute and we have to have him stop."

Sarah began to alternately squeeze his hand and rub it. She continued for a while until the very end. The Chuck squeezed back. It was still another ten seconds before the flash stopped.

Chuck began, "Olga Zenkas, Argentina, daughter of the prior deputy Ambassador to Columbia, was originally captured by a fringe group of the Hermosa. They were trading illegal drugs and attempting to overthrow local governments. They capture her and two other girls. One was Donna Castillo from Paraguay. She was released but died from an unknown disease shortly after her release. The other was Katherine Knocks from South Africa. Negotiations for the release of the girls failed after the fringe group was attacked. They were sold to MS. From that point on I have records of them three more times. Each with little or no… Well let's say that I am still not sure why that's in the Intersect. A written description would have worked for me…Sorry," Chuck looked at Sarah. "Anyway at least one of those pictures is with a leader in MS known as Zappa Hellandas. I tried to follow that name, but was not getting much and could feel you squeezing my hand. So, that works."

Sarah looked a little surprised, "I was rubbing it too."

Chuck's small smile went away, "Well, maybe not that much."

Doc Adams said, "Let's take a break. I want a little more time in between."

Sarah agreed, "Fine let's take thirty minutes. Chuck, can you just lay back for a while?"

"Sure," Chuck pressed back from the laptop and laid back into the pillow.

Casey, Mary and Alice left the apartment and went to the conference room to check on progress of the teams. Alice found that Tom and Vera were almost to Melina's and Casey sent her a note that the extra protection was on the way. Mary checked on the progress of LT and the Chief in their plans for the shipment. They were making plans on three levels: an operation like the previous with Coast Guard support, a more intense operation with additional forces on the shore, and the possibility of a counterstrike after the initial operation.

At the end of the thirty minutes Chuck was ready to go, "So let's go ahead and try the other daughter." Mary put up the next picture. Chuck flashed. Sarah stayed beside him watching every twitch. His heart rate hit the ninety beats per minute. Sarah was squeezing both hands trying to get him to stop. Sarah began calling out for him for him to stop. His heart rate climbed to one hundred ten and seemed to be going up. Sarah was now squeezing harder and harder.

Chuck finally blinked wide, "Ouch, wow that hurts." He began rubbing his hand.

"I am so sorry," Sarah was very upset. She did not know that she was hurting him that much.

"I wish I could say that I felt you squeezing my hand, but I only felt the last two times," Chuck said as he began to hold Sarah's hand. "So that was Katherine Knocks from South Africa. She is multi-lingual. She had been used, to put it politely, in Africa for three of the last four months. She would be considered a very high value target. She was a bargaining chip in many of their deals. She should know the names of many MS leaders. Currently, she is one of Zappa Hellandas' tools in negotiations. She will need increased protection."

It sounded like the phones throughout the apartment were ringing. The TV came on and Steven could be heard, "Chuck and Sarah, we have reports coming in from Tom, Vera and their protection detail. They are under fire."

_A/N Hope you enjoyed. Action starts again. Please review._


	11. Chapter 11 the Counterstrike

Let us do something, while we have the chance.

Still don't own Chuck.

"Sometimes it helps to know that you got something to lose."  
--Agent Walker Episode 3.4

Chapter 11—the Counterstrike

**Casa Bartowski**

"This is Tom. There are five vans around the safe house. Each van appears to hold at least four shooters. There are two down at the doorway. We have tried to call into the safe house but their lines are busy." The gunfire continued in the background. "We have taken a position in back of our vehicles," Tom ended.

"This is Vera, I am across from Tom. We did come in separate vehicles. The protection detail is spread out around the street exits. So far, they are only using Glochs and machine pistols," Vera pointed her camera around the scene.

Sarah called out, "Mary, can you get the FBI ops center and see if they have this on their lines. Tell them we have a team on site and need to coordinate."

Casey thought they were still outnumbered. Without the FBI acknowledging the firefight he was planning to send another protection detail. He said, "I can send a team from here. We can delay rotation." He turned to Doc Adams, "Doc, we could use you." Casey asked Sarah, "If he promises not to look at any pictures, can I have the Doc?"

"Yes, I promise. This has priority," Chuck agreed.

Sarah winced, but after Chuck agreed she said, "Yes. But we need you to stay here and coordinate."

"Right," Casey turned back to the screen and started talking into his cell. Doc Adams got his bag and headed out the front door. Major Garth met the Doc in the courtyard and they ran to waiting van.

The timing was perfect. The phone next to the bed rang. Sarah picked it up and went secure, "This is Director Walker secure. Yes, he is here. He's doing better. Yes, here he is." Sarah turned back to Chuck, "Its Director Wabash's secretary. She is ready to connect you." Sarah handed the phone to Chuck.

"Hi, this is Chuck. Oh, good morning… Director, one of our teams is in a firefight. They had gone out to ask some questions of Melina Habana at the FBI safe house. Yes, she is the Columbian Security Agent that helped identify the diplomats' daughters. Well, there could be as many as twenty shooters. We are trying to contact the FBI ops center to see if they have contact with the safe house…

"I originally sent the email to you over concern about those diplomats' daughters. This obviously reinforces that threat. Can we get extra protection for them? Actually, I think we need to order that it be put in place… If we keep them and are able to get some information from them about the MS, we may be able to keep them out of the country. That has to be a national security concern.

"Okay, sure… Yes, they are tied together. As a matter of fact, the attack could be Fulcrum, MS or the Ring. I don't know yet… Okay, sure I can do that… Yes, I'll wait for your email… Great… Thank you very much, this really is a good thing… I promise I will. Oh, sure. The number is…" Chuck gave the number for the conference room and the network with Tom and Vera.

FBI center was now linked in the conference network. Sarah was talking with them, "Yes, we have a small force of twelve behind the shooters, and another force of eight on the way. Can I get through to your SAC; we need to coordinate a full counterstrike." The center replied that it would contact him.

Chuck signaled Sarah and Casey, "We are going to receive a Presidential finding based on the attacks the other day and confirmed by this one today, that organizations involved human trafficking are conducting terrorist like activities against the United States. Actually, I am sure this has been building for a while, but the last few days have given it the push to get it signed. It will mean we get any support we need." Chuck looked at Casey, "Yes, I know this will be decided before we get the message. What have you been able to add to the fight?"

"I have two A-10s rolling in. They are fully armed. They were heading to the national range coming out of Edwards AFB. They will be there in two minutes. The targets will be the vans. FBI will be following with two full SWAT teams. But they are ten minutes away. Our team is another five minutes behind that." Casey looked at Sarah, "Can we engage?"

"Yes, take out the targets. Tom and Vera did you copy that?" Sarah asked.

There was a chorus of yeses when Tom, Vera, the detail and the safe house responded. They barely got done responding. The A-10's rolled in with their guns blazing at over four thousand rounds per minute. The middle van got the brunt of the action as it was the place where one staffing ended and the other began. The timing was perfect. Their teams took cover as the vans exploded and were demolished. They covered each other as they maneuvered forwarded. The opposing force was down.

Then it started to happen…a camera picked up one of the fallen agents and another camera showed the face of another. The cameras moved around as the teams moved through the debris. Faces came across the screen and vehicle pieces that were still burning were appearing. Everyone was watching the screen. Tom and Vera went to the FBI safe house. Two more faces appeared and then the two FBI agents that had lost their lives in the attack. A couple cameras turned to see the FBI SWAT arrive.

Chuck's monitor began flashing and beeping. His rate was going past one hundred and thirty beats per minute. Sarah almost jumped when the monitor started to beep. She grabbed Chuck's hand and started squeezing with both hands. Dorothy went directly to the monitor and got a stethoscope to check his breathing and pulse.

Chuck finally stopped the flashes. His breathing was ragged, but he got out, "Get everyone… away… from the safe… house." He saw Dorothy checking the amount in the syringe. "Need… ten minutes. Put model… on display. If I… flash, squeeze… my hand. Flash no more… than minute."

Sarah turned quickly to the best position for the microphone on this network, "This is Director Walker. All teams withdraw from the safe house and proceed to the FBI substation at Burbank. Confirm withdrawal by team."

While Sarah was listening to the reports from the teams, Chuck was reading the model reports and making inputs. He began a flash and Dorothy called it out. Sarah turned back to Chuck, "Mary, please get the remaining reports and make sure they get out of there." Sarah got Chuck's hand and waited for a signal from Dorothy. She began squeezing his hand. They started watching the monitor. It was getting close to one hundred twenty again. Sarah began calling his name along with squeezing his hand.

Chuck finally came out of it. "Thanks… Okay… Little bit more…" He could not figure why, but he was almost hyperventilating.

Dorothy used the stethoscope to check his breathing and pulse again. "Chuck, I need a couple deep breaths and exhale slowly," Dorothy directed.

Chuck took the breaths while typing away on his laptop. Chuck's face showed his concentration. He was making inputs and creating his own cross correlations. He was happy that he could type and not hesitate. He knew this would not last much longer. It really did feel like he was running a race and right now he was still going uphill. The results showed on the screen. Chuck saw the picture of Zappa Hellandas with the Halversons, Maximillion de Brouget, and another person. The flash came hard. Chuck's heart rate immediately started to climb.

Sarah became the squeezes again. Dorothy was looking at Sarah. The monitor showed the rate getting back up to the one hundred thirty range. Sarah began calling his name and squeezing harder. "Chuck, you have to stop. This is too much. Chuck!"

Chuck continued just a second more, "Got it. Burt… Grossner, Ring… Show you…"

It wasn't much longer and the screen showed a map. Highlighted with bubbles the FBI safe house was shown along with the FBI substation in Burbank. Then just four blocks from the safe house, another bubble showed, 'Burt Grossner, Ring commander. Garrison for 50 agents.' Next another bubble which was across town showed, 'Halverson staging area. Supported by 20 armed men. Could hold 100.' Finally, another bubble showed near the local airport, 'Zappa Hellandas MS office, holding 10 armed men.'

Chuck had the screen set up so that it had a crawler of information at the bottom. The line was currently showing, 'Attack at safe house with 3 confirmed Ring Agents and 2 MS operatives. While additional 17 members of the attacking force not confirmed, high probability exists that remainder of Ring and MS forces would engage at Safe House. Halverson staging area was not functioning during last attacks. Indications are that the Halverson area was set up by the remaining forces after the last attack.' The information was being shown on the scenes in the apartments and being feed to the FBI center and the addresses on Sarah's original email.

The face of Chuck's boss filled the screen. John said, "We have the Presidential finding. Chuck, I need you to get some rest. We are going to launch a coordinated attack against all identified centers. I need you to head this.

"Sarah, you and Colonel Casey are authorized to use any force available to protect your people and Melina. Protection of the other girls and the Fulcrum agent will be guaranteed.

"Sarah, we will be augmenting Mr. Wiggins and your analyst section. Connections are being made now. I would like the help of Steven, if you can spare him. He'll be getting a separate contract from us.

"I am sending Phillip out to help with the coordination. Mary, if you could help with his accommodations.

"Finally, thank you. You have done an outstanding job," John ended his connection. Emails with these instructions and further details began flooding their inboxes.

_A/N Hope you enjoyed. A little shorter, but was the best break point. And as my Beta would say, you didn't send him back to the hospital, so he must be doing okay. Please review._


	12. Chapter 12 the Country Wide

Let us do something, while we have the chance.

Still don't own Chuck.

"Sometimes it helps to know that you got something to lose."  
--Agent Walker Episode 3.4

Chapter 12—the Country Wide

**Casa Bartowski**

A select set of addressees received the Presidential finding stating that organizations involved human trafficking are conducting terrorist like activities against the United States in order to destabilize law and order and establish criminal activities. Chuck, Sarah and Casey were in the list of Secretaries, Directors and Chiefs of Staff receiving the finding as an action addressee.

Chuck and Sarah received a subsequent email from the Honorable John H. Wabash. The email was a forwarding email:

"Chuck,  
We need you to be the head of this operation. We believe you are the only person capable of collecting and correlating the necessary information to complete the planning and operation in the short period of time we have. We will not allow these organizations to use terrorist operations to destabilize and begin their evil criminal activities. We believe that we have a maximum of three days before they either gain an upper hand in critical areas or go back into the shadows to re-plan for another attempt. We have tomorrow for correlating the information, the next day to plan, and the third day to conduct the operations.  
But first, and expect Doc Adams and others will agree, I need you to rest. Suggest you read the email below which outlines your authority.  
Once again thank you.  
JHW"

The following email outlined the authority as the Director of the Interagency Task Force on Trafficking. Chuck was given the authority to obtain support of law enforcement agencies and direct the activities of the units assigned. It also gave him access to all intelligence and the authority to task collection. Then there was a full paragraph describing available support from the armed forces.

Chuck finished reading and said, "Casey, I'll need more information about the last paragraph. I know what you can do now. But is this different and or more? Don't know if this is a lawyer thing or not. When we start the planning, I'll need to know."

Chuck looked at Sarah. She had been reading over his shoulder and knew what he had seen. Chuck said, "I am a little better. At least I am not stuck feeling like I have lost my breath. And I can tell that Dorothy still wants me to get the heart rate down even further. I'll do what the boss wants. I expect we probably won't get much sleep after that. But I want you to get some sleep too." He smiled at her, "That's a request." He looked at the screen and saw that the teams were reporting in. "Do you want me to go up to the bedroom?"

Sarah kissed him, "We'll go up to the conference room. If you need anything, call. But please sleep." Sarah knew that she needed to check on her teams and get everyone ready for what would be coming. Sarah went over to Mary, "Everyone making it?"

Mary nodded her head, "Yes, they are almost at the rally point. Do you want them to stay at Burbank?"

Sarah did not want to, but she knew he would have the best answer, "Chuck, I promise I will let you sleep. But you heard Mary. Where is the best place for Melina?"

"Well, without putting her into one of the fabulous bunkers, best place is probably the FBI at Salt Lake. They should have a safe house. Ask them to meet at the airport and transport her. Send Tom and Vera. I still need the answers to those questions," Chuck raised himself at little. "And it is going to take a little before I go to sleep. How about sending Dad, Liz, Kristen and Eldie down? And I'll need Mr. Wiggins on the phone." He saw the looks, "I might as well get the data set up in the model so it will be easy to analyze."

Sarah looked at him and shook her head, "You sure?" He held his thumb up. "Dorothy, monitor him. If his heart rate does not level out or starts going up, put him to sleep." She went back to Chuck and took his hand, "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Go on, make sure everyone made it and is safe," Chuck smiled at her. "Go on, it's fine."

Sarah bent over the bed and kissed him. She turned and went with Casey and Mary up to the conference room. The teams were completing their reports and all but the rear guard had pulled into the parking lot at the Burbank FBI Substation. Even though their teams had pulled away from the Safe House, Sarah and the others in the conference room were still surprised when they saw several vans pull up outside the Safe House and armed men begin to go through the wreckage.

Sarah cleared using the Safe House at Salt Lake City with the FBI Director and local SAC. She found that things were working smoother now that the Presidential Finding had been issued. Casey started working the transportation of Melina to Salt Lake City. Mary and Alice began checking the safety of the other girls. Alice explained what had happened with Melina to Special Agent Henry. He was in charge of the diplomats' girls and had already doubled their protection details twice. He assured Alice that they were as safe as they could be.

Back in Chuck and Sarah's apartment, Chuck was online with Mr. Wiggins and he expected most of Sarah's staff. Steven, Liz, Kristen and Edlie were there too. Chuck knew that his dad would understand. Liz would pick it up easily since she was one of Sarah's expert analysts. Chuck was hoping that Eldie would get it. At least he knew what tricks were needed to input into the model. He would be able to identify easy methods of inputting the data. Kristen was also no problem. She was a computer wiz for the IRS and could easily understand the dynamics of database exchanges and the architectures involved. Chuck began outlining the how he wanted the data presented in the model. He showed them how he wanted the initial integrations and geospatial data display.

Chuck and Steven wrote an email to John explaining what would likely happen, and some of the problems that could come up. John wrote back that even a few centers would be a good start and that if they had to they could try it incrementally. After Chuck and Steven discussed a software change Steven suggested that they had enough to work on and that Chuck should get some rest. Dorothy was more than happy to take the signal from Steven. She helped usher everyone out of the room. Dorothy went to Chuck, "Now is there anything more that you have to do now?"

"I can see the itchy trigger finger of yours. You wanted to inject that all day," Chuck laughed. "But I do need one thing. I need to go to the restroom."

After helping him back in bed Dorothy said, "This should keep you till dinner. Then Doc Adams can check you and get you ready for tomorrow. I think you are doing better, but the more rest you get, and I mean solid sleep, the better you will be."

Chuck said, "Okay," while he was typing out one last email, "Sarah, Last email. I am going to sleep. See you at dinner. Forever Chuck" Dorothy gave him the sedative and he was asleep in less than a minute.

Sarah was in the conference room and saw the email. She hoped he would be asleep, but sent a reply, "Great. See you at dinner. Love Sarah"

Sarah was happy that Chuck was finally getting back to sleep. She had received confirmation that Melina was in the air and headed to Salt Lake. Doc Adams had finished his job at the FBI substation and was headed back along with the other details. Casey had made arrangements for Melina's protection at the Salt Lake location and was busy ensuring that additional protection was put in place for the apartments and the rest of Sarah's team members.

Mary received an email with Phillip's itinerary. He was coming in tonight at the LA airport. She past the note over to Casey so he could get it set up and told Sarah, "My uncle is coming in tonight. Casey and I will go down and get him. A few of the Rangers from the ranch are going up. The group of them will be over at the Maison23. Casey will be adding a detail over there."

"That sounds good. Do you want to bring him over tonight?" Sarah asked.

"Well, it will be kind of late, probably around nine. Is that okay?" Mary asked. She knew they were trying to get Chuck some rest.

"Oh, that's fine," Sarah noticed the concern in her face. "I'll get Chuck to take a nap after dinner. That and this afternoon, he'll be fine."

The remainder of the afternoon was spent working details and finalizing data schemes. Sarah did check with Steven. They were making progress and had arranged that data bases would be liked together. Director Wabash had augmented Sarah's team with over a hundred analysts and data base specialists. Steven had spent most of the time providing direction to them and working with Kristen to design the scheme that would work for Chuck.

Sarah saw an email from Chuck and replied, "Sounds good." Doc Adams was back. Sarah went down to the apartment to see how Chuck was doing. Ellie and Devon were there too. Their shift was over and they had stopped by to see how Chuck was doing. Between the three of them they gave Chuck a thorough examination.

Chuck told Doc Adams, "There's one last thing to do. You'll need to summarize your results and send them to the boss."

Ellie thought that was a bit different and asked, "Why does he need to do that Chuck?"

Devon was a little curious too, "Yeah, why did we show IDs to get in the apartments?"

Chuck hesitated until he saw Sarah nod, "Well, we were attacked today at one of our safe houses. About the same time I got a new assignment."

Ellie was starting to become a little concerned, "Do you have to go somewhere? You really aren't ready to travel."

Sarah decided to intervene, "Chuck has to analyze, plan, and execute an operation that will take place around the country." She saw continued confusion on their faces, "We are going to take down every Human Trafficking center that Chuck can identify. And do it all at once."

"Wow, that's awesome. Really great, Bro," Devon exclaimed.

Ellie was still not sure this was really that great, "So, what is the extra security for?" She looked at Chuck for an answer.

"Like I said we were attacked today at one of the FBI safe houses. No one was supposed to know about it. But the bad guys found out. So we have extra security." Chuck thought for a second, "Actually stating tomorrow, you will too. I'll make sure they know to stay out of your way."

Ellie looked around the apartment, "Okay, well."

"It's okay Ellie. By the way I just ordered in. Would you like to have dinner with us?" Chuck smiled.

Ellie looked at Devon and said, "Sure, we'll go change and be back."

After they left, Chuck and Sarah were alone in their apartment. Chuck said, "Hey, was dinner okay? Doc came in. He made a comment about being hungry and not getting lunch. And well my stomach was a rumbling."

"Sure, good idea. We should have thought of that for lunch. Actually, I don't think anyone had lunch," Sarah felt bad about that. No one said anything, they just all kept working.

"You know, we should check about getting some support. I mean we could ask Rebecca, Kelly's secretary, what to do," Chuck replied.

There was a knock at the door. Sarah got a couple of the bags. Chuck had ordered Sizzling Shrimp and more for everyone. The remainder of the order was taken up to the conference room. Ellie and Devon came over. Steven said he needed to finish the model. He, Liz, Kristen, Eldie, Alice and most of the team finished off the boxes.

Casey and Mary did get back to the apartments. It was a little after nine. Phillip came in and gave Sarah a polite hug. He had made Casey stop along the way and offered Sarah a bottle of wine. He also had a smaller bag with a grape soda for Chuck. After filling everyone's glass he gave a toast to Mary and Casey's engagement.

Phillip said, "We'll work tomorrow. Carlos and I were copied on the emails. Carlos will continue to complete his current court cases. He has made arrangements to support you during the final planning and operations. Please accept his apologies, he really did want to come, but he was obligated to stay for the hearings."

Chuck held up his hand, "I completely understand. He is welcome just as you anytime you can support our merry little band."

Phillip smiled, "Little band." Phillip had seen the emails before he left. Chuck's organization was growing. But he remembered Mary saying that Chuck had to get some rest today. Casey had explained the problems Chuck had.

Mary explained once again what their engagement day activities included. Casey even suggested that Phillip stop by his apartment to see the statue that Mary got him. Mary also explained that Chuck and Sarah were going to get married at the chapel on the ranch. They began talking about what they would need to do at the ranch to get it ready.

Phillip started to yawn, "Oh, please excuse me, some long hours. And I know we have some more ahead of us. I am happy that you are finally got some rest today. May I suggest that we all need to turn in for the night. Thank you once again for being so gracious to have us."

Phillip shook Chuck's hand and gave Sarah another light hug. Phillip, Casey and Mary headed out the door.

Sarah went to Chuck, "This really had been a long day. Did you get enough rest?"

"Oh yeah, with the sedative I slept really well through the afternoon. Actually, I only got up because I had to go to the restroom. But hey, I am good," Chuck smiled at Sarah. "I am even better getting around." He demonstrated that by getting off the bed and grabbing the IV. "See, already to head up stairs."

"Great, well let's get going." When they reached the bedroom, Sarah helped to the restroom and went to get ready for bed. When she met him at the bed, she sat beside him and put her arm around him. "Chuck, what are you planning for tomorrow? I mean do you expect to flash a lot?"

"Okay, don't freak out on me, but it will be about the same as before the roundup. I expect to read the results of the model and then use the Intersect to fill-in anything the model missed. I'll add that back to the model. I have not talked with Dad yet on how many there will be, but if he is working late. Well, I don't know yet," answered Chuck.

Sarah was visibly upset, "How are you going to do this? Those flashes you had today and especially the one when you identified the locations put your heart rate past the limit. Back when you were just trying to identify those people before the roundup you were getting headaches or migraines. Chuck?"

"I know there could be a problem. Actually, I don't even know if this will work. After I talked with Dad, I sent an email to John that outlined the problems. I copied you on those emails?"

"Well, I guess I didn't think you were going to try to kill yourself," she was getting more agitated.

Chuck took her chin with his hand to look into her eyes, "Look, I love you. I want more than anything to be with you forever. Understand," Chuck eyes were concentrated on her. "Killing myself does not seem to be an option to get to that point. Dad and I put together a plan that should work. The changes we put in the model should cut down the longer bad flashes." He leaned over and gave her a kiss, "But most of all I know I need your help with this or I won't be able to do it. Help me?"

"Chuck, you know I always will. But I am not willing to risk you either. If the alarm goes off and your rate stays up or looks like it is still climbing, I'll order Doc Adams to put you to sleep. Okay?" she asked almost pleading.

"Good," Chuck kissed her and they stayed wrapped in each other's arms through the night.

The next morning Chuck and Sarah were ready for Doc Adams and Dorothy when they knocked at the apartment door. Chuck was in a bathrobe, having already showered. They began to work him over. Dorothy changed the bandages after Doc Adams inspected the wounds. Chuck got in position in the bed. Doc Adams pronounced that he was okay and his heart rate was down. Chuck was thinking that this was a bit formal but told Sarah that he was ready and began to review the data from the model.

The model was set up as Chuck instructed. The first city to analyze was LA. It seemed to be working. The three points that Chuck had identified the day before were still the only centers for LA. The model had refined numbers based on the after action report at the safe house.

Next Chuck looked at San Diego. That seemed to fall in place. He did flash when he looked at the data for the upcoming shipment and the receiving area. The receiving area was Halverson's and the Fulcrum building was next to it. The Fulcrum location was the one that had been under surveillance. The flash pulled him into a sequence, which raised his heart rate but not over one hundred beats per minute. He was able to identify a Ring location about two blocks away from the Halverson area. In each case he was able to identify the location and the number of agents assigned or possible. Chuck rapidly input the data he was able to gather from the flash.

The sequence was the same through San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. There was enough information in the models to identify two or three sites and Chuck would flash and either add information or another site. The planning was taking place at the same time. Chuck would add notes to each location specifying the necessary force and support required. As a city was completed the members of the team would contact the principle agent, generally a FBI Senior Agent in Charge (SAC) for the city. The concept was for the principle to refine Chuck's information and put together a plan for the take down of the location. They were to have it ready for review the next day for review by Chuck.

Sarah was beside him, watching and holding his hand through each of the flashes. She watched the monitor and knew he only went above one hundred once. She let his hand go as he made the inputs, only to worry about the next time. When he got done with the West Coast group, Sarah put the lid down on the laptop, "Chuck, we need to start a rest cycle like we did before. Come on ten minutes of rest. You know that it will build up and get worse if we don't do this."

Chuck patted her hand, "I know. And you do remember what we did last time?"

"Yes, I had something like that in mind," smiled Sarah.

"Doc and everyone, please excuse us. I am going to try and relax for a little. We'll let you know when I start up again. Sarah is right. It will get harder if I don't," Chuck asked everyone in the room.

With the room cleared, Sarah kissed him and began to massage his shoulders. She worked around his neck and massaged his temples. She continued to massage him while he closed his eyes and tried to drown out the thoughts of what he had seen in the flashes.

They continued the procedure through several states with big cities that matched the West Coast. Working through three more hours, Sarah said that they were going to take a lunch break. Sarah gave him a message and helped him with a quick snack. Doc Adams asked that he try a short nap.

When he woke up he pressed on, the procedure lasted again until dinner. Have another break they continued until almost eleven. Chuck had covered sixty cities and close to one hundred locations. Some were no more than a house where the traffickers held girls. The others held a sizeable number of hostiles like in LA. It was the smaller ones where Chuck had a problem. For reasons he was still complaining about, the smaller ones were linked with too many horrific pictures of torture or worse.

While Sarah was checking with the team members, Chuck took a shower and was re-bandaged by Dorothy. Doc Adams checked him one final time and sent out his report.

Chuck was ready waiting for Sarah when she came out of the bathroom in her pajamas. She crawled into bed with him. Kissing together and holding each other they drifted off to sleep.

_A/N Hope you enjoyed. Back on the road again, had a few problems trying to get to the internet. Think that has been solved. Please review._


	13. Chapter 13 All Set

Let us do something, while we have the chance.

Still don't own Chuck.

"Sometimes it helps to know that you got something to lose."  
--Agent Walker Episode 3.4

Chapter 13—All Set

**Casa Bartowski**

Chuck and Sarah woke wrapped around each other. Chuck was on his back leaning to his left side. His left arm was up and over the pillow above Sarah's head. Her head was buried in his left chest. She had her right hand tucked under her side and her left arm across his chest. Her waist was against his with her left leg up over his waist and her foot resting on his knee. He had his right arm over her left arm and holding her shoulder.

Chuck thought he woke first. He could feel her positioned around him and it was clearly having an effect. He was torn. He knew if he tried today Dorothy would likely come screaming in pointing at the monitor and then slip him the sedative. He also knew very well that he had been dreaming of this for three years. Then he thought back to Barstow and he slumped. He was not going to try something only to get there and have to stop because of his heart rate or some other stupid problem. He knew he would have to stay in bed and recover for another week. There might be one day where it was clear, but then the Amazon would hit. That's when the gleam started, _'the wedding night, no matter what.'_

Sarah did wake first but only a moment before. She only saw his chest rising and falling and could hear the slow steady beat of his heart. She noticed he was waking when his heart rate went up appreciably. She realized how she was positioned and could feel the impact. She could tell his breathing was increasing and the heart rate was climbing. His body was beginning to tense up. She was ready to slide over. But she realized that if his rate were climbing now, she would get in position only to be met by Doc Adams who would be yelling to give him a sedative. Then she noticed that Chuck's body released. The tension was gone. There was a hitch in the breathing and then it went to normal. She settled back a little too. She knew that this would be pointless, there would be a problem and they would both be frustrated. She would rather wait for them to be ready, _'Wow, that wouldn't be…'_ Chuck began to shift and hold her shoulder a little tighter. His heart rate climbed back but then held.

Sarah could tell he had gone through something and had his answer. She hoped it would be what she was thinking, "Morning. What? What are you thinking?"

Chuck felt like he been caught, "Morning, I love you too. But I think we already know that." He took a deep breath, "You know that I have always wanted you. I mean that I always thought. Wait, I am sorry. I wasn't exactly ready to explain this but the short version is I love you so much that I want to wait for our wedding night." He looked in her eyes. They were getting misty and he could tell, "Sorry, a little rambling there."

Sarah moved up and kissed him. It was very passionate and had a smile behind it. That's exactly what she thought. She knew it was a little childish, _'But it would be the reason why this wedding would work. They would hold something so special till their wedding night. And if they both could, then it would…' _Now she knew she was rambling. She gently pulled back and looked at him, "And you know that I will always want you. I thought the same thing and want the same. To our wedding night," she smoother him in another kiss. She knew everything was right. This would be so great.

Sarah looked at him like she had just gotten her best and biggest surprise in the candy store, "I love you. You just made my day the best. What do you want today?"

Chuck smiled at her, "I got what I wanted today." He reached down and gave her another kiss. Feeling the pain again he added, "Well, there is one thing." He took her hand in his, "Can you massage my back? I had forgotten how wonderful that feels and after laying in bed so much."

Sarah looked up at him, "Sure. We should have thought of this earlier." She sat up in the bed, "Go ahead and roll over. We can do this now. That way we can finish before they get here."

After she began and the feeling was coming back to parts of his back that did not seem to be there before Chuck said, "Oh, this is so great. Tell them that we had to take care of something. Oh, wow."

It was almost an hour later. Chuck and Sarah had showered. Chuck was in his robe again. They were downstairs and let Doc Adams and Dorothy in. Doc Adams inspected the wounds and Dorothy changed the bandages. Chuck got in position in the bed. Doc Adams pronounced that he was okay and his heart rate was down.

Chuck said, "You know I need everyone's help today. If I flash today, something is wrong. I'll have to finish the flash. There will be too big a risk that the information may have a serious effect on our operations. Sarah and everyone, you know that I won't risk anyone knowing that there could be something that I could do to save them. Please help me through it and then get calmed down so we can get this in gear." He saw them nod their heads. Sarah gave him a light kiss and held his hand.

Casey and Mary came over along with Phillip. Chuck thought that Casey looked rather happy this morning. Mary was as pleasant as ever. Mary came over and gave Sarah a hug. He saw Sarah usher Mary back to the kitchen. He thought for sure he heard a little Ellie like squeal from back there. Both Sarah and Mary came back smiling. He was fairly certain Mary smiled at him and nodded.

Mary began, "We have the preliminary plans for each of the sites. The SAC generally developed the plans. There are a few Coast Guard plans. I think my dad had a hand in a few." She saw her uncle nod in agreement.

Casey added, "I had them sent over to the Joint Staff planners last night. They developed some support packages that should be useful. Those plans are attached to the primary plan."

Chuck nodded. "I guess we should start the meeting with the other directors," he looked at Casey, "and flag officers?" He saw Casey nod. Mary sent the email confirming the meeting would begin on the hour.

Chuck brought up the plans in the order in which he started the day before. He was certain there was an accumulative effect of reviewing the model and the cities in the order they did yesterday. Information seemed in build on the previous flash or model finding.

Chuck started, "Okay, everyone on-line, you should be seeing these along with us. I'll read through the plans. If anyone has a comment, please begin it up at the beginning. We'll have a short discussion and then I'll make changes or approve the plan. As you know there are several to go through today. We'll go as fast as we can."

The first site to review was the one near the safe house. Alice was the lead for the assault. It was the Ring Garrison. The action would start with a call to the location. A chance to surrender would be given to occupants of the building. In this case through additional surveillance the team had confirmed that the only occupants were the ring agents. The doors would be hit by high explosive charges. Another offer to surrender would be extended. Then the scenario branched. If there was no counter fire, Alice and a FBI SWAT would enter the building and begin a sweep. If there was any armed response, they would withdraw. Any armed resistance would be met by a response from a UAV with a suitable missile directed into the front door. For this particular target there would be a compliment of F-16s available to demolish the building. Chuck agreed and went on.

The next target was a Halverson staging area. While Chuck had initially estimated that there could be 20-armed men at this facility, he also indicated that it could hold an additional 100. While there had been surveillance run against the building, they could only confirm the 20. If there was an additional 100, they were not sighted. Kayle Poston and Lea Suz would run this one with FBI and LAPD support. Casey had arranged for additional support with Super Cobras. The approach would be the same. Offer a chance to surrender and then go in. Since there was a chance that there could be victims inside, everyone was to be alerted at the first sign of them. In that case, all efforts would be made to keep them safe. Chuck said that sounded good.

The last LA target was the MS office. Chuck agreed that Brad Hill could lead this one and FBI and a Special Forces team would back him up. There would be no exception. They would be given a chance to surrender, but any resistance would be met with total force. Chuck agreed.

Shifting to San Diego, the targets were to be taken out by Mary and her team. Each would lead a force against the target. Coast Guard, FBI and Special Forces were to be involved. Chuck wrestled with this for a while. There were certainly sufficient forces to take care of the three centers that were targets. But Chuck knew that Mary was still a primary target. He wanted extra assurance.

Chuck looked over a Casey, "Casey can you go down there and set up a command site. I still want additional protection. They were have demonstrated that they will go full force to go after Mary. I don't want to give them the chance." They were looking into each other's eyes. "Understand?"

Casey smiled, "Thank you." He knew that as the JTF commander in support of the operation his normal position would back with Chuck. But Chuck was right. There was still a possibility of a leak. They had found the safe house. He saw that Phillip also agreed. Casey quickly sent the email to request a mobile command post.

Chuck finalized it, "Okay, with that change it is approved. Next up is San Francisco." They went through San Francisco without any problems. For the Portland operation, Chuck saw that the Coast Guard had a significant role. Two of the targets were on the water way and within the Coast Guard's authority.

Up at Seattle, the targets were in a wide spread. There were several agencies working those sites: FBI, DEA, and ATF. While he understood the links to the site and each of the agencies, he was unsure about the intermediate command structure. He said, "Who is the person to talk to about Seattle?" When no one replied right away, "Okay, I don't want to start something between the agencies involved here. But at LA, we can control the sequence of events and shift forces. Down at San Diego, Mary will be able to do the same. And at Portland, unless there is a question on this, I assume the Coast Guard commander will be the lead agency. And I guess using the same logic, since the DEA will have more people on the Seattle operations, DEA should be the lead. So anyone have a problem with that?"

The Director of the FBI spoke up first, "That sounds fine here." There was a chorus of Okays that followed.

Casey spoke up and said, "If any agency that is named the lead needs additional support to fill the lead role, let me know and we'll request augmentation from the Services."

Chuck said, "Okay proceeding on." He looked at Sarah and saw her smile at him. Things were going good. They proceeded through several more cities with the similar comments. In a couple cases, Chuck recommended an additional force. After two hours and twenty cities completed, Chuck asked for a break. He had to go to the restroom and knew that several others needed the relief. Sarah and Doc Adams helped him over to the restroom.

With everyone back in place Chuck continued. After another twenty cities, he did notice an abnormality in Atlanta. Chuck said, "I am sorry folks. I know we have gone beyond the lunch break. But let's take time now. We'll bring the conference back up in 45 minutes." After the line shut down Chuck looked at Sarah, "There is something wrong with the Atlanta data. It will take me a little to fix it. And so you know, I may," he made his eyes circle around. "You might want to have Mary take Philip up to the conference room."

Chuck began to review the model and the inputs on Atlanta. He ran through the data inputs. Mary, Casey and Philip went up to the conference room. Chuck looked at the filtering and changed the search configuration. Two new pictures came up. The first picture showed a Halverson hotel with several girls in various stages of undress watching another girl getting a tattoo. It was a combined MS symbol of a snake and a Halverson head with barbed wire. The next was a podium that could have been a long desk with a light shinning brightly in front of it. The flash that ensued was long and difficult. All of the prior pictures of the travesty of the Halversons flashed quickly by, along with new equally abhorrent pictures from MS files. Then the siege of the Ring began. Chuck had never realized how many files were tied to the Ring but they were crashing on him now.

Sarah was watching him and looking at the Atlanta files at the same time. She saw him change the display and look at the data input. Then she watched him type in a new search pattern. When she saw the two pictures emerge she knew they were trouble. She looked at him and saw that his eyes were unfocused and moving rapidly. Getting his hand she looked at the monitor and watched as the heart rate was jumping into the danger zone. Doc Adams had his stethoscope out and was checking Chuck's breathing. Dorothy was at the ready with the sedative.

Casey and Mary came crashing into the room. Casey had his gun out looking for the problem. The tone of the alarm on the monitor changed and grew loader with each increment of five beats per minute over the threshold. Chuck was now passing 140 and the alarm could be heard in the conference room. Casey yelled over the alarm, "What's happening?"

Doc Adams flipped the alarm off.

Sarah was on the verge of crying, "We had discussed this earlier with Doc Adams. Chuck was convinced that if he flashed today on something, it could be information that would change the entire operation. He asked that we would let him run the course. He had argued that too many lives were at stake." She wasn't sure any more. This had lasted way too long. She turned to Chuck and began to press his hand and call to him.

Casey got next to Doc Adams, "Doc, you need to stop this. He would have found whatever it was by now."

Chuck began to feel his knuckles coming apart. He came around just as Dorothy was about to inject the sedative. "Wa… it… Wait... Sara..aah." He got his hand away from her. His pulse rate was still high but it was coming down. Chuck looked back at Sarah and took her hand. He said, "Okay," and kissed her hand. Trying as hard as he could to regulate his breathing and get the heart rate down, he began typing. All units in Atlanta were alerted to double their contingent. He added two more locations with orders to hit the first with an airstrike. He explained that the target was several stories underground and provided a diagram of the underground bunker. The next location he classified as extremely sensitive. It was a dorm at one of the local colleges, only after seeing the displayed the records could he tell that the college did not own the property. The Intersect matched it to the Ring. Chuck highlighted it as a likely recruiting and training station. He recommended that they subdue the occupants and that all restraint possible be used. He note suggested treating the trainees as through they had been assimilated by a cult and needed to be detoxified. His final email was to all participants pushing back the rehearsal by two hours and reminding everyone to come prepared.

Chuck finished and took Sarah's hand again, "I'll… review. Nod… approve. You… run… until… rate… down." He was sucking air after each word. He looked at Doc Adams, "Got… to… stay… until… over... Promise… you'll… help." He saw Doc Adams stare at him and slightly move his head yes. He rubbed Sarah's hand and nodded to begin. He leaned back and watched.

At first it was a bit awkward but by the third city they had it down. Sarah would highlight the contents of the targets and the characteristics of the strike package. She'd ask if there were any questions or concerns. With no problems, Chuck would nod and they would proceed to the next city. Doc Adams continued to monitor Chuck and would point to the display for each time his rate lowered by another ten beats per minute. In an hour and a half Chuck was down into a normal range. When he spoke up, he began to run the meeting again. Chuck's problem slowed them down a bit but they were still able to finish before six o'clock. Chuck knew there were a few things to resolve before the rehearsal and he was typing at a fevered pitch to get them fixed and ready. The teams had already began to get in position. Casey and Mary left for San Diego hours ago.

_A/N Hope you enjoyed. Interested in feedback on the first part. _

_The FanFiction traffic function does not appear to be working. Hasn't for the last four days. Please review this and all the stories you have been reading. It will be the best way to let the authors know we appreciate their work. Thanks._


	14. Chapter 14 the Rehearsal

Let us do something, while we have the chance.

Still don't own Chuck.

"Sometimes it helps to know that you got something to lose."  
--Agent Walker Episode 3.4

Chapter 14—the Rehearsal

**Casa Bartowski**

Chuck set it up for the complicated part first. There were actually two rehearsals. The first rehearsal was a communications and command center check. It was scheduled for 8 PM Pacific. The next rehearsal was in the morning at 5 AM Pacific and 8 AM Eastern. It was a check to ensure all units were ready and within 30 minutes of their targets.

Ellie had come over to the apartments after work and insisted that she would get a dinner ready for all and that she and Devon would be at Chuck and Sarah's apartment by 7PM. Sarah agreed, but told her that there was an event that started at 8 PM and they had to be ready for it. Ellie and Devon prepared meals for the people still at the conference room and then got her dad and Philip to join them in Chuck and Sarah's.

The meal was an easy one and the conversation stayed away from the up coming activity. Ellie began the discussion of wedding preparations wondering, "How much have you been able to get done?"

Sarah and Chuck looked at each other. The only thing they had agreed was what they had discussed that morning. It was certainly not something you'd bring up in front of your sister or your dad. Sarah recovered first and offered, "Well, we were set up to get the license work done, but we were side tracked."

Chuck interjected, "We should be able to get things done in two days. But I am not sure yet, whether I'll be able to leave here."

Ellie smiled back at her brother, "There are still a few things we can get done without you. And in two days we will have our four-day break. We can help you." She saw Sarah's look of concern. "Don't worry. I remember. We'll try our best to make it as easy as what you did for us at the beach."

Sarah replied, "That would be great Ellie. Hopefully, I'll be able to start right away in the morning. And we'll see what we can get done without Chuck having to be there."

Ellie and the guests left by 7:45 PM. Steven stayed behind to help Chuck with the communications set up in the apartment and then left for the conference center.

At precisely 8 PM the communications and command center check began. Everyone came up on the respective networks and conference lines and did their roll call checks. Message traffic was confirmed and then video both live at the various conference rooms and teams. A couple of tweaks were made along the way. One that Chuck asked for was that a sign be placed in front of the conference cameras so that he would know which center was being displayed. The tactical cameras already provided an ID tag and Steven and Sarah's analysts had designed and implemented a solution that would tag the feeds with the information Chuck needed as a crawler along the bottom of the screens.

The next part of the check was designed by Chuck and for Chuck. He knew he had to be able to process the data as it came in. They were potentially going to be flipping between the hundred sites with information being presented as fast as he could see, read or hear it. And then provide direction. The rules were simple. Any use of force would be reported through the centers and to Chuck. In those cases, where an anomaly in the opposing force was noted, it would be presented to Chuck with video of the action. Chuck would if possible provide additional direction. He told everyone again at this conference call that tactical control still resides with the on scene team lead.

The first report came in, showing contact with a force in San Diego. Mary was helping with the inputs there. The previous mission was on the screen showing gunfire on the deck of a ship. Mary began, "Upon initial contact, we have fire from the bridge and aft. Count is seven shooters. Coast guard air support is beginning counter fire."

The screen then shifted to a warehouse from last time with Halverson men returning fire on the position held in this scenario by Kayle and Lea. Close ups of the shooters began coming on the screen along with the girls being held in that warehouse. Chuck was struggling with this. He knew some flashes could be started by this sequence as some of these pictures had been inserted by his dad from other files. Chuck watched the scene unfold as Kayle came on-line and said, "Unusually high level of return fire. We have seen at least twenty men returning fire. Hostages may be involved and have weapons in hand."

Chuck saw the first picture that could cause a flash. He was trying hard to concentrate on what Kayle was saying when the picture was shown. His concentration paid-off. He did not flash, but had what he later described as a mini-burst and saw the rap sheet on the shooter. When Kayle finished his report and another picture was shown, Chuck began a flash. He tried hard to control it, but found it was related to the warehouse scene and let it continue. Happy that it was more along with the normal flashes in the past, it lasted less than a minute and showed this man to be one of Halverson's higher ups. He had been involved in recruiting people into the organization and in particular training girls to be assassins. Halverson had it developed as a nice little sideline for the initial product offered to Fulcrum. The next picture confirmed that information. It was a picture of a girl from the previous raids. Chuck said, "Kayle use the Super Cobras to take the doors. The girls aren't hostages. They are a part of the Halverson force. They should be considered snipers in this case."

Kayle confirmed that, "You're right. They have taken position and are firing on our people." When he read the script, he thought it odd that it said to wait until Chuck had given direction. But now he understood.

The remaining firefights followed the same path. There were several pictures that Chuck's dad inserted which he knew to be in the Intersect. Every third scenario had branching to it. Some would include multiple pictures with likely flashes and one key that would lead to another decision point in the firefight.

While the scenario part only lasted thirty minutes, Chuck was sweating at the end of it and his heart rate was close to 120 beats per minute. He felt good about the exercise and let everyone know that he thought it was a success and to be back on-line 15 minutes before the rehearsal for a communications check.

Steven came down to the apartment. He approached Chuck's bed, "Aces Charles, Aces. You got each of the surprises in the exercise. And as Casey and I set up the script, you picked the right decisions. How were the flashes?"

Chuck explained, "You were right. I had to concentrate really hard on something else, but I held some of the flashes to just one file. It worked mainly when something was going on and I was listening to someone. There was at least one time that nothing was happening and I started a flash on a common criminal, a hit man for a gang, and it lasted longer than I needed. But I think that was because I was not concentrating on something."

"Great, I thought it should work that way from the start. But you always seemed to have full flashes. The Intersect was originally designed to show the most common piece of information and then add to that from the bits and pieces presented by the files from various agencies. While we had some slow parts in the scenario, I think you should find that the events tomorrow will come fast enough to keep you focused and concentrating. This should work," Steven smiled at Chuck.

"Thanks Dad. I do feel better about being able to handle this." He saw that smile in his dad, "You knew that would work, didn't you?"

"Well, I could. I never understood why you weren't able to. But then, your flashes do seem to be more comprehensive and pick up all the pieces. Right now that seems bad because of your condition, but really that is a good thing. I am sure you would not have been able to tie all of the MS, Ring and Halverson operations together if you couldn't go long on your flashes." He patted Chuck on the shoulder, "You did good Charles."

Chuck over at Sarah. He could see her concern, "Well, I guess I ought to be heading to bed. We'll be up pretty early tomorrow and things will be going fast."

"Okay son, see you in the morning. Goodnight Sarah." He smiled at her, "You'll do fine. He'll be alright."

"Thanks Dad," Sarah hugged him and saw him out the door. Doc Adams left at the same time. Chuck and Sarah headed up to the bedroom to get a six-hour rest before things started in the next phase.

Chuck heard Sarah moving around and was still trying hard to get an extra five minutes of sleep before the day started. He found her snuggling against his side and began to turn to his left as best he could. He was careful moving his left arm high and over her head. Then he moved to her and pushed himself to her. Waking up in a kiss was worth the extra five, especially if it lasted that long. He smiled as they opened their eyes.

Sarah asked, "You ready for this?"

"Yeah, it should be okay. I'll have Doc Adams and Dorothy watching me the entire time and you can see what is happening. But you'll be pretty busy too."

"I know," Sarah knew that she still had control of their teams and for this operation there were twenty other city team leads that were reporting to her.

Chuck knew she was concerned. He was too. With this big of an operation there was a good chance someone was going to get hurt. He was going to try to minimize it and convince the opposing force that they had so significant an upper hand that if they did not surrender it would be near suicide.

Chuck moved closer and kissed her again. "We'll do well and our teams will too."

Sarah nodded and got out of bed. She went first to the bathroom and got ready for the day. Chuck was next. They got down stairs and Dorothy was already at the door. She checked Chuck over and redid several of his bandages.

Chuck and Sarah got in position. Chuck was back in the bed. Sarah had a desk set up next to him on the left side of the bed. Doc and Dorothy could get to him from the other side of the bed where the monitor equipment was set up. Chuck was happy that his dad had already set up the conference call. He could hear the units calling in and establishing their connections. He began checking the status reports that had come in. Looking at the status board that his dad put together he could see by city whether the units were in position and had their equipment.

At fifteen minutes before the appointed time they began their communications checks. Each member reported into their team lead who then reported into the lead for that site and on to the city, region and then Chuck. Each of the leads tried point checks directly with individual members and Chuck did the same.

Chuck also confirmed through his models that what he saw in the flash on Atlanta the day before was the case. He sent his email to the principles explaining that the intelligence he obtained indicated that the Ring at Atlanta may well be their headquarters and that they may have information of this morning's operations in Atlanta. He explained that they were moving to operation to begin at 8 AM Eastern.

When that was completed Chuck came on-line and began, "Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be beginning our operations. There will be no rehearsal this morning. First we are going to do a quick check to make sure everyone is ready to go now. Our operations start as soon as we get everyone in position. I would like everyone to confirm their personnel and equipment status first. Then we will have all units move into position. When we are ready I will give the okay to begin.

"Please remember that while we certainly have the weapons to start a small war that is not my intent. Our doubling of resources and weapons available from the Armed Forces is to initially be a show of force. But so you understand, I have no intention to let them continue a prolonged shoot out with the possibility of any of you being wounded or killed. I will direct engagement of the opposing force.

"No wait. Opposing force were not the right words to use. These people are evil, destroying lives for sex and money. They people who are helping them are traitors trying to over throw our way of life. We will bring these people to justice," Chuck finished.

Casey was down at San Diego with Mary. He smiled at what Chuck had said. He had planned to say something to the forces under his command but decided that they had all heard Chuck and would understand. Casey was in a command and control mobile van along with Phillip. Actually it was several of them linked together. He sat looking at his screens with one rack devoted to Mary and her team. Chuck had been very explicit about Mary's protection. Casey was to swing all fire power to the protection of Mary if it seemed that she had been singled out as a target. He checked on Mary.

Mary was with her team by the docks. Mary and LT were going to take the Halverson receiving area and the Fulcrum building was next to it. The Chief was leading the force to the Ring location about two blocks away from the Halverson area. Mary and LT were at a Navy warehouse away from the area. They would deploy when Chuck gave the word. Mary would go to the Halverson building and LT would go to the Fulcrum site. Mary was getting the status report from LT, the Chief and her uncle.

Phillip was in charge of the backup force. His unit consisted of a few boys from the ranch and another FBI SWAT and a special Customs and Border Protection. They were in the parking lot by the trailers. Phillip had thanked Chuck for the opportunity to lead a unit on this operation. They were close enough to backup Mary and he could provide advice through the command trailers.

Chuck was checking the status panel as it reconfirmed that all the units were equipped. He also got a reply from his boss that he was cleared to proceed early. He went on-line again, "Everyone, we have a go. All units proceed to your starting points. I expect to give the execute order thirty minutes from now."

Chuck continued to look at the results of the models. They were continually updating. Since each of the sites in the raids today was under some surveillance, the model provided a few useful bits of information. Earlier it had confirmed what Chuck flashed on at Atlanta. This morning it confirmed that the ship going into San Diego was pulling in and would be in position when the operation started this morning. Chuck relayed the information to Mary and the others in San Diego.

When he was done he looked over to Sarah, "You doing okay?"

"Yes, are you okay?" she said with a smile back.

"Fine. We'll do great. Remember if I start flashing for too long and something is happening you direct the action. Doc Adams will let you know." He saw Doc Adams give him a thumbs-up.

Alice got a thumbs-up from her FBI SWAT leader. They had moved into position down the street from the Ring Garrison building. That was their target. Another SWAT unit was on each of the roads leading to the building. Alice polled her people and got reports that everyone was in position and ready. She also got the report that the UAV was in orbit and F-16s were on station.

Kayle and Lea were on station near the Halverson building. They had an FBI unit with them and the LAPD had begun to cordon off the area. Kayle had received the reports from his units and was reporting in.

Chuck got Kayle's report and saw that the status board was almost complete. He checked his feeds through his computer and the screen on the wall. Everything was working fine. He switched the scenes to review the units as they began to finish reporting in.

Steven was watching the units roll by on the scene in the conference room. He had one of the displays set up as a mirror image to what chuck was watching. So it displayed not only what was on the scene in Chuck's apartment but what Chuck had for video on his laptop. Liz had another scene and her laptop connected to the model and Mr. Wiggins and the analyst shop. Eldie had a display with the units and individual people rolling through.

Chuck finished rolling through his scenes as the last unit reported in. The status board now showed all units ready to go. Chuck asked, "Okay everyone, all units have reported in. Any problems out there?" He waited to see if there were any replies, "Okay, one last chance." He looked over at Sarah. She nodded. "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your execute order. Begin your operations." He knew there would be a couple minutes before first contact and said a small prayer.

Sarah saw him and said, "Say one for all of us."

San Diego started it. When Mary's SWAT lead went to the door, his second knock on the door was met by gun shots. Two shots hit him in the vest and threw him to the ground. LT did not get to the door of the Fulcrum building. It flew open with gun fire spraying the street. LT made it behind an old oil drum.

Mary began to report in, "This is Mary at San Diego. We are under fire from the Halverson building and Fulcrum location. Most all windows and doors are being used as firing positions. We have one man down and cannot get to his position."

Chuck knew this was too fast. They had to have seen Mary's teams coming. He sent a quick note to Liz, 'Search for enemy surveillance in the San Diego area. Check air sources.' He switched over to the surveillance of the ship that had docked an hour before. The scene showed men coming down the plank, some with rifles visible. Next he opened his line on the net, "This is Chuck at central. Casey, have one of your units take the ship. They are unloading and they are armed. I believe that is their back-up force.

"Mary use of force against your targets is authorized. Also, be prepare for attack from rear," Chuck was watching some of the other operations begin to unfold.

"This is Liz at central. Casey, track identified as hostile in your area. Track ID is 56277. A probable UAV." She saw the email from Chuck, "You are cleared to engage. Good hunting." Casey sent the track to the closest Super Cobra and the UAV was dispatched while over the harbor.

While Mary had the Super Cobras launch against the two buildings, Casey reported, "This is Colonel Casey. We are engaging forces at the ship with additional support. The Coast Cutter Whitefin is engaging and the Special Forces unit has surrounded the force deployed from the ship. And Phillip is deploying his people to cover Mary."

The Chief had reported in that the three people at the Ring facility surrendered with no resistance. Chuck saw a screen shot of one of them and confirmed with a mini-flash that he was Ring. The same was true for Kayle and Lea. They reported that sixty occupants appeared to be victims. Alice's camera showed the one person who met them at the door and immediately surrendered. But as they entered the building someone shot at them. That person was downed by return fire. Chuck again confirmed that the first person was Ring. Alice and her team began to search the building.

From around the country the reports and actions were a mirror of that from California. The Ring agents generally surrendered. The thugs supporting Halverson or MS usually fought and additional force was immediately brought to bear. Chuck was busy all the time and used mini-flashes to confirm the identity of the individuals captured. He was happy that the building at the Atlanta campus was taken without incident and the students led off in other vans.

The Ring headquarters turned out to be a bust. They captured two agents and two others decided to make a stand. But there were no other people there. Chuck told the NSA unit dispatched to Atlanta to secure the equipment.

But today's real problem became apparent after Alice reported that they discovered a tunnel from the Ring building that emptied out three blocks away. Alice complained that it wasn't on the building records. Chuck was sure he heard Casey say; 'yeah, that's why they call it a secret tunnel.' The video from Atlanta displayed at that time showed a computer monitor with Chucks address.

_A/N Hope you enjoyed. Got to have a cliffhanger once in a while. Please review._


	15. Chapter 15 the Real Problem

Let us do something, while we have the chance.

Still don't own Chuck.

"Sometimes it helps to know that you got something to lose."  
--Agent Walker Episode 3.4

Chapter 15—the Real Problem

**Casa Bartowski**

Alice had just reported that they discovered a tunnel from the Ring building that emptied out three blocks away. At the same time a video from Atlanta displayed showed a computer monitor with Chucks address. Chuck switched to the video outside the apartments just as two of their protection detail's cameras switched to focus on the sky. Chuck hit the panic button on his laptop. The alarm sounded throughout the apartments loudly then changed to a constant tone.

Chuck announced over the net, "This is Chuck at central. Our facility is under attack. Main operations for today should switch to the regional centers for cleanup directions. All local units switch to the tactical network." He looked over at Sarah and saw her putting on a headset. She nodded. "Sarah is lead. Detail, check southeast corner positions." Chuck heard gunfire outside the apartments. "Dorothy, get me out of this," Chuck said holding up the IV.

Sarah was already up and over at the hidden closet. She got the vests and threw one over to Chuck. She gave the remaining two to Doc and Dorothy. The gunfire was continuing. The net was constant with reports of breaches and the detail reinforcing positions.

Chuck and Sarah got their weapons from the closet. Chuck pointed to the closet and told Dorothy to take cover in it. Chuck and Sarah had a Colt in their hands and one in their waistbands. Their vests had another six clips. Chuck put on the tactical headset. They looked up at the screen in their apartment. Chuck had changed the presentation to tactical and the display showed the position of the thirty Marine guards that were posted for duty that day. Four of the positions showed the guards were down.

Sarah began her directions, "This is Sarah. Major Lenner, the guards at the southeast are down. Status unknown but display shows heartbeats. I show you at van across from apartments. Please confirm."

"This is Major Lenner. Correct, at the van. We can see at least six shooters at that Southeast corner."

"This is Sarah. Engage if possible. Kristen, what is the status in the Conference room?"

"This is Kristen. We are okay. There is gunfire coming into the conference room and the next room. We think it is from an airborne source. Nothing else would have this angle."

Sarah went back over to the main network, "This is Sarah at the Center. We believe there is an unfriendly in the skies by the apartments. Please vector the F-16s back to confirm. Coordinate with me when on station."

Casey came on, "This is Casey. The F-16s are being redirected. And should be on your tactical frequency now. Surveillance shows air activity in your neighborhood."

Sarah heard them, "This is Ringneck. Confirm, two bogies at your position. Old Hueys, but they are armed. They are attempting to engage us."

Sarah came back immediately, "This is Sarah." She saw Chuck nodding, "Take down the opposing force." Sarah looked at Chuck again.

He pulled his mic away, "Two helicopters falling out of the sky, should cause significantly less damage than two fighter jets crashing at high speed. That was the right choice." In less than a second they heard the screeching sound of metal slamming into the building. One of the helicopters was hit and attempted to ram the apartments. It fell a bit short, but the fuselage kept coming and hit the apartment below the conference room. They felt the building shake.

"This is Major Lenner. That helicopter just smashed into the apartments below the conference room. Everyone on that side of the building evacuate to the courtyard."

"This is Ringneck. The other chopper ditched at the parking lot about a block north of your position."

Chuck, Sarah, Dorothy, Doc, Steven, Liz, Eldie, and Kristen left the apartments and came out to the courtyard. Chuck was relieved that Ellie and Devon had already left for the hospital on an early start for a couple operations Devon had scheduled.

Sarah pointed over to their apartment, "Come on, we are too exposed out here." The group proceeded over to the Morgan door and let themselves in. "This is Sarah. We are taking position in the Woodcomb apartment."

A few shots rang out in the courtyard as two men in dark outfits began running for the door of Chuck's apartment. There were more shots at the side entrance to the courtyard.

"This is Sergeant Norde. The force from the Southeast has broken through. Maj Lenner and two others are down."

Sarah slowly opened the door of the apartment and shot the two men at the door across from her. Kristen went out and took position behind one of the pillars. When two more men came into the courtyard, Kristen and Sarah shot them. Eldie and Chuck took position at the door and Steven took the other gun from Chuck and waited at the window. Another man emerged and shot twice at Kristen. Sarah shot him and went to Kristen's position.

"This is Sarah. Kristen has been hit." Three more broke into the courtyard and began firing. They all opened up at once. The cross fire was quick and the three went down.

"This is Sergeant Norde. That was the last of them. We have the last two out here. And we did intercept the squad from the downed helicopter."

Doc Adams ran over to Kristen. He had his backpack with him and began to treat her. She had been shot in the leg and in the chest. After confirming that she was wearing a vest, he checked her breathing first. He looked at Sarah, "She'll be alright," and started cutting through her pants to get at her leg.

Dorothy went back over to Chuck's apartment and got her bag. She and Eldie went out to see if they could help the Marine guards.

"This is Sarah. Please confirm that everything is contained." She heard reports back from all positions and finally from Sergeant Norde confirming that they were secure again. She told Sergeant Norde that he had control again. LAPD and the Fire Department had arrived on scene. And the Sergeant was put in charge of coordinating with them.

Steven used the laptop he brought to connect to the network and Ellie's large screen TV. He pointed over to Chuck. He looked at Sarah, "You go first. I want to check the traffic."

"This is Sarah at Center. The attack has been repulsed. We sustained seven casualties. Six Marines, and they have been evacuated to the nearest hospital, and Agent Kristen O'Day. She was treated by Doctor Adams and is being taken to the hospital. The apartments sustained damage from a helicopter crash. While we have a temporary set up here," she saw Chuck and Steven talking and heard them say Castle, "we will be relocated to Castle in a few minutes."

"This is Chuck. I have reviewed the reports sent since this attack began. Most appear to show clean up actions proceeding as expected. Does anyone have anything significant or out of the ordinary?" He paused for a second, "Okay, we'll be linking to the net over cell phones. Primary control remains with the regions."

Steven began breaking down the equipment. Liz and Eldie got what they could from the apartments. Chuck and Sarah were met by Dorothy. She did a quick check of Chuck and agreed it would be better to get over to Castle. Doc Adams was at the hospital with Kristen and the Marines. After Casey got another protection unit in place, they got in the vans and headed to Castle.

Chuck sat at the main console at Castle. He thought it a bit odd that the apartment seemed like they were better equipped than Castle. Then he remembered that his dad was the prime architect of the apartment set up. Chuck established the connection with the net, "This is Chuck at Castle. We are coming on line. Give us ten minutes and we'll be asking for status reports."

Steven and Liz began to connect the equipment they brought. They got laptops up for Sarah and Chuck and then for each of them. Each station had a separate microphone and video camera. Chuck and Sarah were busy with emails.

Dorothy had gotten the monitoring equipment from the apartments and connected Chuck. "Unless you think you are going to get into trouble with your heart rate, we won't hook up the IV," Dorothy told Chuck.

Chuck was so happy he could avoid another needle he almost got up and kissed her. Chuck looked around, "Everyone ready?" He saw everyone nod. "Okay, this is Chuck at Castle. Mary, please provide your report and will continue with the same order as before."

Mary reported that at San Diego they had captured 43, and there were 18 casualties with 11 deaths of the Halverson, Fulcrum and people from the ship, likely MS. We had two casualties. Two of our SWAT members were hit. They were both in the hospital, in stable condition. Alice had only the one Ring casualty and another detainee. Kayle and Lea had arrested 13 and had another 60 victims. Brad Hill and the Special Forces team met fierce resistance at the MS office, total force was used and all 12 MS were dead. The reports from around the country were basically the same. Chuck felt quite happy that they did not suffer that many casualties. It turned out the attack at the apartments resulted in the most wounded of all the individual operations. Chuck warned all the participants to take special care of the Ring Agents. While they surrendered, there was a very good likelihood that they would try to escape.

The rest of the day was spent finishing up and coordinating interrogations and methods to distribute the results. Chuck had one last conference call with everyone and thanked them, "You all have my thanks and gratitude. You all took action to rid this country of a horrible threat. You are all great Americans. As you visit our wounded today and in the next days, please convey my thanks to them. They certainly have our prayers for a speedy recovery. Thank you again."

Before he ended the call, his boss came on-line, "This is John Wabash. Before everyone signs off, I wanted to pass along the President's thanks. You all did a magnificent job. This country is safer because of the actions you took today. And I echo what Chuck said, our prayers will be with those that were wounded today. Finally, a special thanks to Chuck. Now, go get back on leave so you can heal and get ready for the wedding. I'll see you there." He dropped off the line.

Chuck ended the call and looked at Sarah, "I do want to stop by the hospital and check on everyone."

Dorothy looked over and said, "That is probably a good idea. While you are there we can get you a throughout check."

Casey and Mary came on the screen. Mary said, "Hi, we were just checking in. We are going to stay down here in San Diego tonight. That way we can finish up and head back tomorrow. Otherwise we would have to come back down here a couple times."

Sarah answered, "That sounds fine. We have a little work to do at the apartments. The helicopter crash got most of Steven's apartment and the conference room and the next room are probably not safe." She looked over at Chuck with a question in her eyes and saw him shrug his shoulders. "Casey, we don't really know the status of your apartment."

Mary said, "Well," Mary paused for a second and whispered in Casey's ear. He grunted. She looked at him, "Was that a yes?"

Casey's surprised look was apparent on the screen, "Yes."

Mary spoke with a smile on her face, "We'll have everyone come down to the ranch. That includes Ellie and Devon, your dad, and the girls. That way they can get the apartment all set and you can get your wedding fixed up."

Sarah looked over at Chuck saw that he agreed, "Mary that is a wonderful idea. I really don't know the setup down there, but do you have room?"

"Oh yes. We have four large bedrooms in the ranch house and a guest house with four bedrooms. We should have no problem. Dad and Uncle Philip have some additional comm. lines out at the ranch. Hold it," Mary went over to Casey again. "Sure, we have space."

Casey turned to the camera, "If we can get it approved, I think we should bring this command center with us. It has all the features of Castle. It's not scheduled for deployment. So we should be able to use it, till at least after your wedding."

Chuck answered, "Casey that sounds great. We are going to head over to the hospital. We'll get a hotel room here and then head over to the ranch tomorrow. Will you be able to have the command center set up by tomorrow evening?"

Casey said, "Sure, we'll meet you down there. By the time you get done at Castle, we'll be set up and switch over."

"Sounds like a plan. We'll see you down there," Sarah said. They ended the call.

Chuck started to get up, "Ah, Dorothy, how about unplugging me and we'll head over to the hospital?"

They all began the drill. Dorothy got Chuck unplugged and everyone headed to the hospital. Chuck and Sarah were in the back of one of the vans. Chuck pushed back in the seat and reached over to Sarah. She moved over beside him and buckled in. He put his right arm around her. They sat with him holding her the entire trip. When they got to the hospital Chuck whispered in her ear, "Forever."

Before Sarah got out of the car, she kissed him. She got out on the other side and went around helping Chuck. He was bent to his left side a little and she went around helping prop him up.

Chuck said, "I want to check everyone first. Then we'll go see the Doc."

Sarah looked at him, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I think," he saw the raised eye brow. "Well, I didn't start feeling it until I got out of the car. But when I went to the door during the shoot out, it felt like I pulled something. Let's go see everyone, then the doctors can figure it out."

"No, we'll have them check. If it is okay, we'll go see everyone," she looked at him like this was not negotiable. She walked in with him and motioned to Dorothy, "He says he felt like he pulled something. Can you set up the check up now?"

Dorothy called Doc Adams and they had Chuck and Sarah sent to a separate room. Doc Adams, Doc Weidman and Dorothy came in and began their checks. Each one listened to him as he took deep breaths and let the air out. They did find a stitch area at one of the cuts that was bleeding. They re-stitched the area. They checked his breathing again.

Chuck was a little bothered by the two doctors continually checking his breathing, "Okay, something wrong?"

Doc Weidman started, "No, we were just making sure. If you have time tonight, I would like you to get an MRI of the area we had problems with?"

Chuck gave Sarah's hand a slight squeeze and sat up a little straighter, "Sure, can I go see my guys first?"

Doc Weidman said, "Take would be fine. I'll schedule it for you."

Doc Adams added, "I'll take you around to each of them."

The small parade of Doc Adams, Chuck, Sarah, a Master Gunny and the protection detail proceeded to each of the rooms. Chuck and Sarah gave their thanks and passed along the thanks of their boss and the President. While Chuck knew the Master Gunny would have everything under control, but he check with each to make sure they were going to be cared for when they got out. Even the Major looked at the Master Gunny when he relayed that he was going to stay with his parents while he recovered.

Sarah knocked on Kristen's door. She heard a come in. Sarah went over to Kristen and gave her a hug. Chuck was right behind. He gave her a hug and they said at the same time, "How are you?"

Kristen answered first, "They told me to stay overnight. The flesh wound does not have them concerned, but they are concerned about the hit to the chest. I had a vest but the bruise has gotten bigger with this new hit. So you guys are okay?"

Sarah answered, "He has to have another MRI to verify that he is healing. So, we'll be here a bit longer. The apartments are going to need some work. So, Mary asked us all to come down to her ranch. Everyone from the apartments was invited."

Kristen said, "Oh sure, I'll come."

About that time Ellie and Devon poked their heads in the room. Ellie said, "Can we join you?"

Kristen replied, "Please do. Hi you two."

After a long explanation of the events at the apartment, Sarah explained that even Ellie and Devon's apartment had taken a few bullet holes. She invited them to Mary's.

Ellie said, "Oh that would be great. We have the next two days off and can help get things set for the wedding."

_A/N Hope you enjoyed. Right the real problem. Please review._


	16. Chapter 16 Getting Ready

Let us do something, while we have the chance.

Still don't own Chuck.

"Sometimes it helps to know that you got something to lose."  
--Agent Walker Episode 3.4

Chapter 16—the Getting Ready

**Rancho Ramirez**

Ellie echoed, "Oh that would be great," when she saw the pancake platter set before her. She was amazed. It was a real collection. She was torn between guarding the platter and scooping up as many she as could. There were plain, blueberry, pecan and whole grain pancakes.

Mary was getting a pitcher of guava juice and pouring everyone a glass. They were at the big table of the ranch house. Philip, Steven, Ellie, Devon, Chuck, Sarah, Alice, Kristen, Lea, Doc Adams and Dorothy were at the table. Mary and Casey were up helping bring the food out from the kitchen and serving everyone. Mary was smiling the whole time. She really did enjoy the big family environment. With her uncle and the whole ranch chipping in this was easy. The kitchen crew was helping in the kitchen and Mary had little to do other than socialize. She even thought she saw Casey smiling.

When everyone was seated and ready, Mary said a blessing and asked everyone to join in. Chuck responded, "Mary, all of us thank you for hosting us. This is truly great."

The teams had just completed a joint agency, state and local take down of Halverson and MS. Chuck had made a sweep yesterday during the clean up to ensure the job was done. Philip and Carlos agreed and passed along their findings to Chuck's boss. Steven and Sarah worked with Mr. Wiggins and Sarah's analysts to file a report on Fulcrum and the Ring. The model confirmed that the Fulcrum basically did not exist in the U.S. However, they were certain that a group of at least thirty Ring Agents had escaped from Atlanta.

While the escape was a problem, the Honorable John H. Wabash declared the operation a complete success. The President even mentioned it in his weekend address. News releases were provided showing the arrests of Traffickers and the subsequent care of the victims. National and local media proclaimed the heroic nature of the arrests. The media plan provided easy access to local, state, and approved agency teams. The FBI was particularly happy with the events as several of their agents were honored. Chuck was thrilled as the news coverage included those that had been wounded in the battles. Several funds were established to help cover their bills and rehabilitation. John made sure that all involved got a letter of commendation. He knew that Chuck, Sarah, and the rest of their team deserved more. He was working on it. But he knew the most pressing thing was to get Chuck out of Castle and to the ranch so he really could recuperate.

Ellie finished a bite and looked at Doc Adams, "Ben, how is he doing this morning?"

"Oh, fine. The results of the MRI showed another tiny hole starting. I know he wanted to spend time with the Marines, but the procedure was easy and he did not have to stay in the hospital. But with the apartments in the shape they were, we just had him stay over night at the hospital," Doc Adams responded.

"I am sitting right here. You could have told me we didn't have to stay," Chuck was a bit upset.

Sarah reached over and put her fingers to his month, "It only made sense. If we had left, you would have spent the entire night following the results of the clean up activity. At least you got some sleep and you needed it."

"Yeah, but…" he trailed off knowing that it was a pointless argument. "So, the real question is whether we can stay out of there for a while," Chuck held Sarah's attention for a second. She liked the pancakes too and currently had the platter. He knew it was no contest. Sarah dug in and loaded her plate. He figured it that with all the exercise that she got a couple extra pancakes was no problem.

Ellie started, "So you already picked the flowers?"

"Hum, yeah. Gardenias, called Miami Surprise. They are in season and we called the other day to the florist we used for your wedding. They said they were happy that we called. They were certain that they would be able to get our order," Sarah took a bite.

Chuck finished pouring the syrup on his pancakes. He looked at Ellie, "You know we did get a few things done."

"Really?" she asked.

"Yeah, we stopped by and got the marriage license yesterday morning on the way back from the hospital. Then last night, Casey and I got measured again for the tuxedos," he smiled knowing that she thought nothing had been done.

"Well, can we help you with anything Sarah?" Ellie said with a little huff.

Sarah picked up on it right away, "Oh sure Ellie, there is a lot I haven't done. I still have not picked out a dress. I went to the store next to the tuxedo shop but didn't have enough time to really look. And while we have the flowers, we don't have anything for the real ceremony. We did settle on the cake and I got the bakery, but I have nothing else for the reception. And Chuck will need Devon's help on the rehearsal dinner."

"Do you want to go out a pick out a dress this morning? We could look for matching bridesmaid dresses and one for me," Ellie thought out loud.

Sarah looked over at Mary, "Do you want to come along?" Then she thought of the others at the table. "Alice and Lea, do you want to come?" They nodded yes. "Kristen, do you feel good enough? It will take a while."

Kristen had a big smile, "Sure, I'll be okay." She was happy to be included. Everything seemed to be working better for her. Mary let LT come back early and things were improving there. LT got to the hospital while Kristen was still there. He stayed with her and helped her with everything that day. She asked, "Which color did you decide on? Pink or yellow?"

"A light pink if we can find something nice. I would prefer that," Sarah saw Kristen nodding her approval.

Chuck bent over to Sarah, "Don't forget, Liz would probably like to go."

She squeezed his knee, "Right. Well, she should be here by the time we are ready. I'll give her a call when we get done with breakfast so that she knows." They ate a couple more bites. Sarah had redone the count, "I guess we expanded a little. Is that all right?"

Chuck rapidly said, "Fine, we can get enough guys to match. Do you know yet whether Carina is coming?"

"Actually got a response last night, she can't. She said that she'd love to but can not guarantee her current assignment will be done by then. So, she said that if it was that she would just attend, rather than be a bridesmaid," Sarah replied.

Casey heard what they were talking about and saw Chuck getting ready to ask something else. He shook his head. Chuck knew he heard a small growl with it, and skipped the next question. Instead, Chuck asked for another cup of coffee.

Sarah then asked, "Are you going to be okay here?"

"Sure, I'll see what Casey's new toy is like. Dad and I can check a few things to see if we got any more hits from the model. It will be fine," he answered.

Steven chimed in, "Sure it will. I spent last night getting it hooked up to the system here at the ranch. That in itself was impressive."

Mary added, "I told you it was a fairly impressive set up. Grandpa uses it when he comes out for the weekend."

"Well, it certainly has as much as we do at Castle," Steven said.

Chuck looked over at Doc Adams, "Can I head out there, or is there something else you need to do?"

"We went ahead and set up a station for you. You can just plug in and go," Doc answered.

Chuck had to ask one more question, "Well, did you get enough pancakes Ellie?"

"Hum, yes." She got out through her last bite. "Mary, thank you. They were great."

Chuck turned to Sarah, "You want to look at what we can find on the web sites before you head out?"

"Well, we are going to try both stores Ellie used. I like the one where we got Ellie's dress. It had a couple that I was looking at. But Ellie said there was a couple at the other store that might be a shade I'd like. We'll head there first. Then if they have nothing we will go to the other store. They had a good collection of bridesmaid dresses. We have it. It will be fun," Sarah gave him a kiss.

Before they made it out the door Chuck caught up with Ellie, "Remember how Honey did this? Please help. Okay?"

Ellie grabbed him in a hug, "I know. And I owe you and Sarah. I'll try to make this as easy as I can. Don't worry it will be good."

After the protection details got set up, Sarah, Ellie and the girls headed out shopping. Chuck and Steven followed Casey out to the command bunker.

**Bridal Shops **

Sarah and the girls went into town to the first bridal shop, the one that Ellie had used first. Sarah felt that it was odd when they started. They were asking too many questions about her and the wedding location and not offering anything about their dresses. After Ellie prodded them they finally started showing some dresses. Finally Mary shook her head after a not so kind remark about Kristen's obvious Kevlar vest.

Sarah saw it happen. She grabbed her bag. She ended it, "Come on folks, we need to head out." Sarah was not happy. At the next store she would give them the conditions.

Sarah thought it ridiculous, but Chuck made her promise. The wedding party was to be outfitted with vests. He was upset about Atlanta and the missing agents. He was positive that if they had their address at the apartment, then it had to be a fairly good chance that they would know about the wedding. He said he wasn't going to risk anyone, but he wasn't going anywhere else for the wedding either. The ranch had to be the best place for the ceremony. It would be the most secure place there was on the wedding day. Even now it was secured as a high priority facility.

At the second shop Sarah immediately asked to see the manager. Ms Gibbons came right over. She had remembered Sarah and Ellie from the rush job. Sarah decided the best way was to convince her that they needed more than the regular help.

"Miss Gibbons, we need your help. I am getting married in a week and there are some special things we need your help with," Sarah only got that out and then was interrupted.

Ms Gibbons said, "Oh that's no problem. We have hired on extra help now."

"No, what I mean is that there are some special considerations we need for the wedding party," she paused. "We will have to wear protection."

Ellie looked at her with eyes crossed.

"Wait, no," Sarah looked at Ellie and smiled. She pointed at Kristen, "The wedding party will have to wear vests."

"So, this is some kind of bet for the wedding?" Ms Gibbons asked.

Ellie decided to clear it up and have a little fun too, "No. Yesterday, some very bad men blew up and shot up our apartment. If you look across the street, you'll see our protection detail. And if you look too close, you'll probably notice that all my friends here carry their own weapons. It's not a bet. We want to look as beautiful as we can and still live through it."

Sarah saw the eyes of Ms Gibbons getting bigger and bigger, "Please help us. Except Ellie, who is a Doctor, all of us work in government law enforcement."

Ms Gibbons was starting to think this was some elaborate prank, "Well, can I see some IDs?"

Sarah gave up at that point. She decided that if they need to have everyone in the store sign a Non-disclosure Statement. "All of what Ellie said was real. I am a Director in the CIA. We are a group from government law enforcement agencies. I told my fiancée that we would wear vests. If we don't, I don't know what he'd do. And right now, he is still our boss."

Ms Gibbons turned her back and got a picture from the credenza. It was of her and someone in a policeman's uniform. "That's my husband," she pointed at the picture. "I understand. It can get nasty out there. We will work with you."

"Oh thank you, we do appreciate it," Sarah said.

"And I do have one suggestion, if your people can work wonders, it would likely help if the vests were white or at least the color of the dresses. That way they won't show as much. Even dark underwear will show through some dresses these days," she pointed at one set of dresses.

"Sure. I mean I think they can," Sarah was not really that sure.

Mary spoke up, "I have had a seamstress down near the ranch enlarge… I mean I think she could do it, if we have too." Mary's cheeks were blushing.

Ellie was starting to look through the dresses, "Well, there are several dresses. Did you say there were a couple you looked at before?"

The girls gathered round and began to go through the dresses Sarah had found before.

**Rancho Ramirez**

Chuck was positioned at his keyboard. He was impressed with Casey's new toy. Any of the positions could link with the main displays or use the pop up displays at their position. All the stations were linked and file sharing was instantaneous. Even call-ups from the servers back at Langley had no delay. He liked the speed and the ease.

Steven had already been in the command center and knew its capabilities. He was pulling up the displays from the last model runs. They now showed the data that they were able to input from the raids on the previous day.

Chuck looked at what his dad put on the main display, "Looks like we should tell Tom and Vera to move again. If the Ring had an abandoned site there, it could become an assembly point. There's no need to expose them to a possible threat."

Kayle looked at it and said, "I could go over and take a look at it. Brad and LT could come along if you wanted."

Chuck agreed, "Okay, plan that out and coordinate with the SAC over there. As soon as you have the details, let us know and we'll go over them with you." Chuck turned around to Casey, "So I still ask you to have a protection detail, but someone else plans it and gives it to you for approval?"

"Right, already on it," Casey grumbled. Then he thought he would be clear, "They are concerned that we may need more support. And do not want to have an understated requirement and smaller force than is required. So Sarah is now shopping with twice as many people as she ever did."

"Casey what happened at the apartments should have been something I thought of, it wasn't something that should been a normal thing for the protection details. We did increase the number on duty by three that day. That should count for something," Chuck shook his head. "Do I need to send something to clarify?"

"No. We are fine. Actually they are paying more attention to this," Casey admitted. "Before the other day some thought that we would have problems arresting the Traffickers. But many considered that a police action. They would agree that it was a big one, but it was still a police action. Things changed a bit when the Ring brought armed helicopters, even though they were old Hueys. It made everyone wake up to a real fight. And that helps us."

Then he smiled, "And get the command center didn't hurt, it came with a planning staff. They are assigned to us, with or without the command center. Nice."

Chuck nodded, "Definitely."

**Bridal Shops **

Sarah found the dress. Everyone agreed as soon as she put it on. Sarah told everyone, "Remember I really want this to be a surprise for Chuck. So you can say we found one but please not what it looks like."

"It's okay. We won't tell them," Ellie said.

"Well, do you like the pink or the yellow?" Sarah asked about the bridesmaid dresses. They had picked the design that everyone liked. The soft yellow and pink was a decision that had not been reached.

Mary said, "Look I know this doesn't help much. But at the time of day you have planned for the wedding, the sky will be just right for either color. The yellow will go great with the setting sun and the pink will match the color for the surrounding rock walls."

Alice said, "You know I think the yellow goes with Ellie and Mary's dark hair better than the pink." Somehow that settled it. The chorus of 'I agrees' fixed the decision for the yellow dresses. The girls spent the rest of the time picking out accessories.

**Rancho Ramirez**

Chuck and Philip were looking at some of the intelligence generated by Carlos and his team. Actually Carlos was in charge of several states. He had the Gulf Coast and the operations from West Texas through Key West. Chuck was highlighting a problem they would have to deal with.

_A/N Hope you enjoyed. Please review._


	17. Chapter 17 Almost There

,mLet us do something, while we have the chance.

Still don't own Chuck.

"Sometimes it helps to know that you got something to lose."  
--Agent Walker Episode 3.4

Chapter 17—Almost There

**Rancho Ramirez**

Chuck finished up outlining a plan for Carlos and mapping the information into the model. He was sure that it would take care of it. Casey, Philip and Steven agreed. Chuck set the plan so that Carlos had the Rangers, FBI and Coast Guard at his disposal for this operation. It would be an extension of their previous operation. The Ring and another section of MS were working to set up a smuggling and drug running operation along the Texas coast. The smuggling would include human trafficking. The Coast Guard was to close off the harbor with a Cutter and support with helicopters. The Rangers and FBI were to enter three warehouses in the area and arrest the individuals present. Finally the Coast Guard was to take the ship and free the victims on the held on the ship. The operation was scheduled for the day after next.

Casey was monitoring the progress of the girls and spoke up, "The girls are almost back to the ranch. Chuck, are you done?"

"Yeah, I am finished here. If you get Doc or Dorothy to unhook me, we can head back to the house," Chuck answered.

Doc came up behind them, "Here I got it. You are doing better today. We'll check tomorrow morning but I believe you will be able to do things without the monitors and the oxygen supply."

"Great, I'll tell Sarah the good news," Chuck was almost pulling at the cords to get loose and up to the house.

Chuck walked over to the house at a fairly fast pace. He was winded by the time he got there and sat down at the kitchen table.

Casey stood next to him, "Don't worry when the Doc says you are ready, we'll get you into an exercise program. And don't worry about feeling bad now. If you aren't crawling to the bench when we get done, we didn't do our job."

Sarah walked into the room, "Casey, you better not be making him crawl to anything."

"It's fine Walker, I was just talking about when the Doc says it's okay to start an exercise program. He was pretty winded just walking in the house," Casey replied.

"Casey, he had an operation on his lungs not even two days ago. Of course he's winded," Sarah retorted.

"Hey guys, I am right here," Chuck sat up a little. "I'll start when the Doc says to. And we'll follow whatever he says to do. Besides, I am doing exercises."

"Right and what are they?" asked Casey.

"Right now I am doing breathing exercises." Chuck pointed to the flow meter on the counter.

Mary intervened, "Come on Casey." She waved at him to follow her into the other room. When they got there, "What are you doing with Chuck? He doesn't need any grief. He has done so much in the past few days."

"I am trying to do him a favor. He needs to work on getting ready. This isn't going to end. We need him to be back and healthy," Casey stood looking at Mary. "Look I am going to do everything I can to make sure he and Sarah have the best wedding possible and a safe honeymoon. You know that, right?"

"Well, I do now," Mary said in a snip.

Casey finally realized something else was wrong. Thinking back to the time on the trail, Casey said, "How about we go for a ride before dinner?"

Mary smiled at that, "Sure, I'd like that." She used her cell phone to call Ray and get the horses saddled up. Then she turned back to Casey, "They'll have the horses ready in ten minutes. I'll go change."

Casey smiled at the choice, "I'll be right there. I need to change too."

Casey stayed to the other side of the bedroom and put on the long-johns and riding jeans. Mary had gotten her clothes and went into the bathroom to change. Casey waited until she got out, "Do you have a good place we can get off the horses and sit for a little?"

"Yes, there is a very nice place on the ridge. It has a good view of the valley," Mary replied. She liked the idea of Casey spending some time with her. They had not had time together since going to the museum.

Casey went over and took her hand in his, "Sounds great."

They went through the kitchen and let Chuck and Sarah they were going riding. Mary paused on the way and told them, "If Chuck is okay tomorrow, we could all go out. It might be good exercise and some fun at the same time."

Casey was relieved that this had been the right choice. Mary was now talking exercise, so it seemed she would open up a little. He remembered how hard he was and closed mouthed back in his day. Chuck and Sarah had helped, and he knew Mary got him passed grunting. But he also knew that sometimes, she could be very much like him or at her worse, hide what she was really talking about. He was hoping that he had made the right decision about this.

Mary was on Dusty, a Quarter Horse that was her favorite. Casey was riding Shadow, a dark Appaloosa. They rode behind the barn and started a good trot to the bottom of the ridge. Casey followed Mary up the trail to the top of the ridge line. The trail had several switch backs going to the top. Once there the view was spectacular. The ridge did over look the valley. The ranch buildings were clear as they were no more than two miles away. As the valley went out to the west, the sides almost cradled the sun as it head down.

Casey saw a log that seemed to make a sturdy seat. He got off his horse and tied it to a scrub bush. Then he went to Mary and helped her down. Casey thought he would begin, "So, are you happy with everything and the preparations for the wedding?" They walked over to the log and sat down.

Mary looked out over the ranch and said, "Yes, everything is fine."

"Just fine, huh?" Casey rubbed her back.

"Yeah," Mary's shoulders sagged.

"Cause it's not us?" Casey asked. He thought that was the problem.

"Well," Mary looked at him. "When will we…"

"I know. I have been thinking about that ever since we came out here." Casey moved closer and put his arm around her. "I thought you would be wondering too."

"Yeah," she got closer to him.

"Look, I want to get married or I wouldn't have given you the ring. But when we came out here I did not think that it was right to take away from Chuck and Sarah and set our date. I mean, well, I want you to have the spot light when we get married and everything leading up to it. Is that okay?" Casey bent over to look in her eyes. He was met by a very passionate kiss. "I'll take that as a yes." It was a while before they untangled.

"I think we can wait until after their wedding to tell anyone," Mary agreed. "But when are you thinking?"

"You mean for the wedding?" He saw her eyes say yes, "I figured the earliest would have to be about a month. I know there is a lot to do. Remember, I helped with Ellie's wedding."

"Yes," she looked at him expecting a little more.

"So, Chuck will have a little more than a month forced vacation after they get married. Or at least that's what Doc Adams said after the last surgery on his lungs. I was thinking that if we got married a week before he came off leave we could have a week's honeymoon. How does that sound?"

Casey did not have a chance. She pulled him into a kiss and they rolled off the log. Mary came up for air, "I love you. That's exactly what I wanted."

"Great. But this isn't. Quick, get up. We are in some kind of ant hill," Casey almost launched himself off the ground while holding Mary. He started brushing and swatting all over Mary and then himself. "Let's head on back. We'll have a little celebration tonight, but after Doc Adams checks us."

"Casey, we have run into this before. Remember, I grew up here. We'll go back and put some Borax in a tub and soak for a while. Then just some hydrocortisone should work. We can get with the Doc if any of the bites look like they are too inflamed. And I still love you."

It was not quite a race, but they made good time getting back. Stopping by the kitchen they explained to Doc Adams what they were about to do. He agreed that if there were any bites that got inflamed, he'd take a look. Casey and Mary spent the next half hour soaking and checking on each other. It was another half hour before they came back to the kitchen to check on dinner.

Sarah saw them come in, "So, are you all right? Any bad bites?"

"We're fine. I think the soaking did it," Casey smiled.

Sarah looked in Mary's eyes. She was altogether too happy just to be free of some ant bites, "What?" She had watched Mary while they were looking at the dresses. "So, you decided didn't you?"

Casey's eyes got big and Mary's smile was gleaming. Chuck had been watching the exchange and when he saw Casey's eyes get big, he knew to intervene, "So, this is up to you. Whenever you want," he reached over to get Sarah's hand and her attention.

Casey nodded and Mary went over and gave Chuck a kiss on the cheek. Mary got next to Sarah and whispered to her, "We are going to wait until after the wedding. Thanks. You guys are the best," and gave her a big hug.

Things resumed a normal balance and Casey began ribbing Chuck about exercises. Everyone came in for dinner and planning started for the next day.

_A/N Hope you enjoyed. Thought I let Casey ad Mary have the stage for a bit. Please review._


	18. Chapter 18 Final Prep

Let us do something, while we have the chance.

Still don't own Chuck.

"Sometimes it helps to know that you got something to lose."  
-Agent Walker Episode 3.4

Chapter 18—Final Prep

**Rancho Ramirez**

Sarah was happy. She was watching everyone at the dinner table and going through all the preparations. Chuck was doing better. Everything went well today. They got the dresses. The shop was making the necessary alterations and would have the dresses ready two days before the wedding. They already had made arrangements for the chapel and the flowers for it and the reception. The cake had been set up and would be delivered that day. Sarah worked with Mary and the ranch staff to plan the reception and the food. The chaplain was coming to the ranch tomorrow to review the ceremony. He was bringing the organist with him. They could decide the wedding music then. She smiled at the thought; Jeffster was going to do the reception. Jeff and Lester had agreed to do their songs and also act as the DJ.

Chuck was sitting next to her at the table and saw her smiling, "What are you thinking?"

"Oh, I was just going over everything. Making sure we had everything covered," Sarah replied.

"Well, I still have the Rehearsal Diner. It would probably be good if we stopped by the jeweler. I want to make sure we have the right size," Chuck said.

Casey chimed in, "We can get that set up after the Chaplain stops by." Chuck and Sarah nodded.

Mary interjected, "Unless you want to go all the way back to Burbank for the Rehearsal Diner, I can show you a nice place on the way back from the jewelers?"

Chuck answered quickly, "Sure, that's fine. Most everyone is staying out this way."

Casey observed, "Yeah, we've laid on a full Special Ops company, and two FBI SWAT teams for protection during those two days. Our little portable command center gets two more additions. We are definitely going to make sure nothing happens to you or the wedding. I don't want to even think about another fire drill wedding, or you getting hurt again and having to nurse you for another month."

Chuck smiled. The old interchanges were coming back. He replied, "Right, you're only doing this so you can add on to your play toy."

Casey almost swatted Chuck, but Mary held his hand. She smiled at Casey, "Thought you said you did not want to nurse him for another month?" The four of them laughed.

Devon looked up at them laughing, "Yeah, did you know that they have almost leveled the apartments?"

Casey nodded, "The architect said the structure was no longer safe. They moved everything out of the apartments last night and put it in storage. The physical security folks said we needed more secure grounds, so the buildings around the side and back were bought.

Ellie was surprised, "Where is everyone supposed to stay? How long is this going to take?"

Casey said, "Plan is now a month. And I know we did not have time to tell everyone."

Sarah turned to Mary, "Don't. We will not impose on you and the ranch."

Casey jumped in, "We can cover any one. They all have per diem."

Chuck felt better and a little playful, "Well, we could all take some time off."

Sarah looked at him, "Are you serious?"

"Well, it only makes sense. We are going to be off a month, right?" Chuck asked to confirm that she still agreed.

"Oh, you know that we are," Sarah smiled.

"Well, what a better time to have off? Now obviously, if anyone has other plans and would rather have off later that is fine." He smiled, "I looked this afternoon at everyone's record. Almost everyone needs to start taking some vacation or they are going to lose it. I am not going to call names, you know who you are." He looked at the others around the table they all nodded. "And to be proper about it I am not really anyone's boss. But that's my recommendation."

Everyone was a buzz about what they would do. Chuck told Ellie, that he would cover them for anything they wanted to do.

When they finished and were in their bedroom Chuck said, "I did not get to tell you something yet. I got an email from John that the next phase will increase our operations. We will have overseas areas and our responsibility will increase. Even after everyone gets back, it would be another month before we are all ready. We'll have to do more interviews. Each of the people you have now will have at least three team leads and four other people with each team." Chuck paused watching her take it all in. "We have to start planning that now to get the interview process ready for when we get back. I still think it would be best if we do it like last time and I have the chance to see if a flash on them.

Sarah came over to him, "That's fine. We can talk about that more tomorrow. It was a long day. I really want to curl up with you and go to sleep." She did not know if he would catch it, "You know you are right, I'll be finished before the wedding." But she did not feel good and wanted to go to sleep.

Chuck's eyes got big, but he pulled her close to him and curled up with her. The Amazon rain forest could be a treacherous place.

The next morning after a quick breakfast Doc Adams gave Chuck the okay. His lung capacity was sufficient and his breathing normal. He did not have to use the oxygen supply nor have the monitors attached any more. Chuck and Sarah were elated. Casey, Doc Adams and Dorothy did present their physical therapy plan. Chuck was thinking about fighting it, but realized that all three of them has gotten together and laid out the best plan they could. He agreed.

After that it was out to the command center vans. Chuck and Sarah sent the email he was talking about over to Casey. They went into the small room off the conference room to discuss it. The main discussion was whether Brad, LT and Eldie would be ready to lead teams of agents. After a long discussion, they decided that they would be given the opportunity. Chuck also said the Liz should be given the opportunity to lead the new analyst section that would be assigned to him. There was agreement there too.

"You know we still want you to head the military support?" Sarah asked.

"Well, I was kind of hoping you would, especially if Mary was going to be a part of this." He punched Chuck in the shoulder, "I'm starting to sound like you."

"Yeah, and I'm starting to feel like Beckman." Chuck smiled, "We'll try to keep you together." He started to punch Casey in the shoulder, but then said, "We do need to decide where everyone goes. Only three of the twelve main teams will remain in the states. And I think Sarah and I will be going back and forth between here, Europe and Asia."

Sarah said, "With a set up like this I don't think you would have to travel to support the teams. But I think there will still be some missions where the three of us are the team."

Casey grunted and Chuck nodded his head in agreement.

"So, we would like you with us. Would it be possible to make Mary the chief of teams? She would still have her own team. Alice seemed to think highly of that Special Agent Henry from Seattle. Maybe we could check on him to make twelve teams?" Sarah suggested.

Chuck said, "Sounds fine to me. That solves the problem of who gets the extra person. The extra four people will be assigned directly as Mary's team. It will mean you always travel with us. That sound okay, Casey?"

"Fine, I think she will be happy," Casey said.

They spent the next hour going through records and checking for second languages, college language classes, and finally high school. They found that everyone had language training of some kind and finally decided it would be best to let the troops have a little input in this. They agreed to have an all hands meeting that afternoon and explain the path ahead. They would give them a couple days to think about it and then everyone would have to put in for their choices.

The meeting with the chaplain went smooth. Chuck and Sarah were happy with the ideas he outlined for the wedding. The organist provided a song list that was a bit different. It did not have the traditional bride's march, but he explained the history of the song and Chuck and Sarah agreed. The organist left and the chaplain asked a little about their background and who would be coming to the wedding.

Chuck and Sarah easily explained what they jobs were and a little about their relationship. Casey had already checked the clearances of the chaplain and organist. When the chaplain asked a personal question, Chuck stammered a bit. But he saw Sarah nod and he said, "No. We decided to wait."

"Wow, oh excuse me. I wish I could convince some of the younger folks to do that." He looked at them with a serious smile, "I know you have thought that out, and I appreciate it."

The meeting concluded and headed to the jewelers. Sarah was happy that they did. Chuck had lost some weight since they were in the suburbs. The jeweler suggested a removable size adjuster and suggested they stop back by in a month or so.

They stopped by the restaurant for the rehearsal dinner on the way back from the jewelers. Mary introduced them to the owners. Chuck got the dinner arranged. While they were walking out the restaurant, Chuck asked Casey, "Will you be able to cover this?"

_A/N Hope you enjoyed. A bit shorter than normal, but wanted the wedding and all the activities in one chapter. Please review._


	19. Chapter 19 the Shotgun

Let us do something, while we have the chance.

Still don't own Chuck.

"Sometimes it helps to know that you got something to lose."  
-Agent Walker Episode 3.4

Chapter 19—the Shotgun

**Rancho Ramirez**

Chuck and Casey were standing outside the restaurant being checked out for the rehearsal dinner. Chuck had just asked Casey if he could cover the restaurant. Casey pointed to the hills to the east, "Oh, it will be simple. We'll put a couple snipers up there on the hill and we'll be able to cover everything down here. We can use some armored vehicles to transport everyone. Yeah, it should be okay."

Chuck went over to Sarah, "Looks like this is a go. I can't think of anything else for the wedding can you?"

"Well, we still have to meet people at the airport and bring them out here. But other than, getting the dress, getting the tux, making sure everyone gets to meet each other, finding out if anyone is allergic to something we are going to serve…" Sarah smiled at him. She knew the rehearsal dinner had been his problem, but now that it was solved he would be able to help a little more with everything.

Chuck held up his hand, "Right, still a lot." Chuck knew there was a lot to do, he just hadn't sat down and listed it. He was happy that Sarah had a good handle on the problems. He promised himself he was going to find some way to help more.

Casey came up with Mary, "Don't forget, we still have a planning review with Mary's dad this afternoon. Then his operation goes tomorrow."

Mary said, "I'll get a little barbeque set up for tonight. I think we need to relax a little." She knew they had been through the ringer trying to get everything ready and still run operations.

When they got back to the ranch, Chuck, Sarah, Casey and Mary went out to the command center to prepare for the next operation. The command post crew set up a live feed with Carlos. Chuck began and explained the final results from the model. The operation would start out of Brownsville and move up the coast. The smuggling and drug running operations were using small inlets along the coast. The model had pinpointed the major ones, or as Chuck said the ones that were used the most. The Coast Guard cutter was still going to be used to close off the harbor during the operation. Helicopter support would handle any runners from the scene, either by land or water. The Rangers and FBI would be taking three warehouses. The last job was for the Coast Guard to board the main ship being used by the Ring and MS.

Carlos ended the review, "The operation will begin tomorrow at 8:00 AM Central time. We will be up and live with your center at 6:00 AM. We do not have anything else."

"Thank you, please tell your folks to be careful," Chuck concluded.

Mary asked her dad, "And you're still planning on getting here in two days?"

"Yes sweetheart, I'll be there," Carlos replied.

The review concluded and Chuck and the others adjourned to dinner. Mary had a very nice spread of barbeque delights. There were steaks, brisket, ribs, and chicken along with a variety of salads and desserts.

As soon as Chuck sat down, Ellie asked, "So, who is getting out here first?"

Mary answered, "If everything goes alright, my dad will be the first one out."

Sarah then added, "Then some of the people who work for me in D.C. are coming out. Right now that will be a little later that day. We'll meet them. As matter of fact almost everyone will be going out. They want to do a little sightseeing."

"Hey, and then the person you have been waiting for, Morgan will come out the day of the rehearsal. And watch out, Anna is coming with him," Chuck smiled as he said it.

Sarah nudged him, "Oh come on, they were very nice the last day."

"Right, I am not sure we heard the last from Anna about the night at the beach," Chuck remembered running for their cars and the high speed chase.

"Yeah, I know," answered Sarah, "But she really liked when we helped her with her dog." Sarah had found out the rules for bringing a dog over to Hawaii.

"So which little furry thing was that?" Casey asked. "The one that set off the alarms or the one that never worked while wearing a Buy More shirt."

"Very funny Casey, don't forget everyone will be here," Chuck replied.

"Yes, I know. I had to explain why we needed to protect them all," Casey smiled.

"Casey, you know that without anyone of them we wouldn't be here," Chuck came back.

"I know, just a dream, just a dream," Casey growled in a chuckle.

They finished up their meals and relaxed. Chuck and Sarah went for a walk down by the gardens. "You know, I hope we remember all of this," Chuck put his arm around Sarah.

"Oh, don't worry. I am sure Casey will have a recording of it all," Sarah said.

In the distance they heard, "Hey, that's not funny."

Chuck laughed, "So, do you like mayonnaise on you roast beef sandwich…" Sarah started laughing.

For the operation the next day Chuck, Sarah, Mary and Casey took their positions in the command center. Sarah was happy, they just monitored. They did not expect Chuck to flash and no close ups of captured Ring or MS was going to be shown.

At the beginning of the operation smaller Coast Guard boats drove up the inlets at the same time. They arrived at their targets at the same time. The arrests went smoothly and no shots were fired. The high traffic inlets were shut down. They were able to see a speed boat leaving the next inlet over. The helicopters were sent after the boat. It did not get away. They surrendered near a bridge and the Rangers took the crew.

The Rangers and FBI had few problems taking the warehouses. At each of the warehouses there was a group of MS men. After some discussion, the MS men made the mistake of trying to shoot their way out. When two FBI agents were injured, Chuck made the recommendation not to let any more get injured or worse. Carlos readily agreed and authorized the go ahead to use maximum force.

The main resistance was from the MS on the freighter. They attempted to fire back. It was met with fierce counter-fire. Overall the operation was a resounding success. MS was stopped and several victims were recovered. Chuck's only problem was the lack of Ring involvement. Only two Ring Agents were arrested.

The next two days were busy. A procession to the airport and back occurred almost regularly. Carlos came back as promised. Several of Sarah's staff came out. They were all using vacation time to make the trip. Each eagerly awaited the official tour of Buy More, Orange Orange, Castle and the apartments. It was thrill for each to see where their analysis went and where the missions were carried out. Sarah's team members were treated like Rock stars. And Liz received royal treatment like she was one of their long lost members.

The day before the wedding became a torrent. Casey's Protective Details permanently manned the airports. Caravans of security forces shuttled the guests to the ranch. The overflow of guests was given rooms at a nearby hotel. Morgan and Anna came back from Hawaii.

Chuck spent the day in the command center. He continued to go over his model looking for indications of the Ring. Sarah finally came into the center, "Chuck we have to go. The rehearsal starts in ten minutes. We have to get over there. Everyone is waiting."

"I'm sorry. I'm just trying to make sure everyone is going to be okay," Chuck threw up his hands.

"It will be fine. Casey has enough people to cover tomorrow. With my boss and yours at the same location, we have more than enough to cover everything. Plus you know almost everyone in the wedding party will be armed," she smiled.

"Yeah, I am starting to feel like this is one of the old Godfather weddings," Chuck chuckled.

"I know, Casey already said he is packing a shotgun. This happens no matter what. He isn't going to do it over," Sarah laughed. The tension was there and they both knew they would make it. Sarah wrapped her arms around him, "Come on. Let's go."

When they got to the chapel for the Rehearsal, the Chaplain took Chuck and Sarah aside, "Say I found an old ledger in the chapel. It was listing the events from back in the 1800s. Did you have relatives back here then? There was a marriage of a Charles Bartowski and Sarah listed. The last name on the Sarah entry is muddled. Someone put a glass on it and the ink ran."

"Interesting, I'll have to ask Dad," Chuck raised an eyebrow.

The rehearsal was a real practice. The organist played the songs intended for the wedding. He wanted to get used to the organ. Everyone walked down the aisle to his or her positions. The Chaplain went through the vows with Chuck and Sarah. Chuck and Sarah pretended to get the rings and put them on each other's hand. They filed out of the chapel and waited for everyone. Casey's detail showed them to their armored vehicles and they left for the dinner.

The sun was setting and the yellow background light was decreasing. They had just completed a round of toasts and Casey's phone started ringing. Two Captains came into the reception area and went to Casey. Chuck and Sarah saw the activity. Chuck said, "Keep the toasts going, I'll check." Casey was animated and Mary was reaching in her purse.

Chuck got to Casey, "What's happening big guy?"

"We lost contact with the oversee positions. Visuals don't show them in position either. The UAV is coming into position. It is a UCAV and armed. Keep everyone in here and away from the windows," Casey was telling Chuck and directing activities at the same time.

Chuck flashed at the idea the oversee positions were compromised, "Casey, we need to move everyone down the hall into the other conference room. Its windows are on the ocean side. Have the hotel deliver the deserts down there."

Casey looked at the Captains, "Go. Go. Do it now."

Chuck walked back to his position, "I am sorry everyone. We have a slight problem to overcome. The desserts are going to be served in the other conference room. Please use that exit and our ushers will show you to the room." To emphasize the point he said, "Teams, we need to move now."

That was the spur that got it moving. Their team members quickly got to their feet and encouraged everyone to move through the exit. Chuck and Sarah made sure everyone got out. Casey and his detail were the last in the room. Chuck had noticed the balloons on the ceiling. They were for the event planned for the next night. The hotel asked if they could position them ahead of time, now Chuck was happy they did.

Chuck said to Casey, "Let's find out who and where they are. Promise the hotel that we'll pay for the damages." He smiled and pointed at the balloons.

Casey nodded, "Everyone out. Now. Now." He waited for the last, "Okay. Go now." He hit the lights and Chuck pulled the chord on the balloons. "This is Casey. Standby to return fire."

It did not take long. Sniper fire began coming through the windows. The lights backlit the balloons and when they came close to the windows, the snipers were taking the shot.

Casey called out, "This is Casey. Return fire. I say again, return fire."

The counter-fire mission lasted less than a minute. When the sniper bullets stopped, Casey signaled a cease-fire. Casey said, "You guys go join the party. We'll take care of this." He saw Chuck and Sarah hesitate. Casey joked, "Wasn't kidding. Go." He pulled back his coat to show the shotgun.

Chuck smiled, "Got it, the last, 'stay in the car.'" He took Sarah's arm and headed down the hall.

Everyone had been served. They were waiting for Chuck and Sarah. Sarah said, "Sorry we had a slight ringing problem. Casey eliminated the problem. Please enjoy." The Sarah's team and the analysts understood what just happened. Jeff and Lester shrugged it off as another feedback problem in the sound system.

In a while Casey came into the room, he was smiling. Mary was with him and looked so happy.

Chuck and Sarah got up and went to the side with them. Casey said, "Well, that should be it. Four positions were compromised. And I am sorry to report that we have four seriously wounded men. They are being evacuated. Doc Adams is with them. The Ring agents, twenty in all, were eliminated. And we got one extra prize; a command van had three people in it. We believe one of them was the senior Ring Elder and probably the only one on the loose. With his reaction, this was pure vengeance. No other reason. You can run your models again, but I think that was the end of the Ring here in the States."

Mary added, "You guys keep going with the wedding activities. We will take care of the wounded men."

Chuck shook his head, "No, we will stop by." He looked at Casey, smiling, "Make it so."

Casey looked at him with a growl coming out.

"Do it, please." Chuck stood there.

Sarah intervened, "Casey, I can't do it any other way either. We'll leave here in an hour."

After another growl, Casey turned and started talking into his mic. They got to the hospital an hour and half later. Chuck and Sarah made their calls and left the hospital in separate helicopters. Sarah went back to the ranch. Chuck was taken to the hotel.

The next day was almost as hectic. Chuck went to meet his boss at March Air Reserve Base near Riverside. Mary and Casey went along. Sarah and Alice met her boss at Los Angeles Airport. Steven went to get Sarah's dad. Ellie and Awesome went out to get the Awesomes. General Beckman and the retired Roan Montgomery were the last to be picked up; the Chief and LT met them at the ranch helipad.

Morgan got Chuck out of the hotel room, "Chuck its time. I have the ring right here." He held it up and showed that he put it his coat pocket. "We won't have that problem today. Casey gave us thumbs up. The van is outside. You ready for this, man?"

"Yes, Morgan. I am ready." Chuck replied.

They headed out the door and to the van. It was a short trip to the ranch. Chuck just stared out the window. _'We are really getting married after all this. She is so beautiful. Okay, Morgan has the ring. I saw him put it in his pocket. Yeah, have to check for a hole. Everyone will be there and Sarah will walk in. She had it all decorated. The groom's cake is in place for the reception, saw that this morning. I have the tickets for the honeymoon. Dad knows, but I think he is the only one. Well, except Casey's Delta Team and they promised to keep it quiet. Bags are all packed and the team has them. Yeah, this will work. Showtime.'_ Chuck got out of the van.

Chuck stood looking at the chapel. It was an old wooden chapel. The outside had wooden siding that looked more like planks than anything. The roof was wooden shingles with a small steeple and cross on the top. The bushes around the chapel were blooming, just looking at them almost made him sneeze. He smiled as he approached the building, a color guard held their sabers in an arch as he entered.

He walked down thea isle admiring the flowers and decorations. It really did work. There were ribbons highlighting the aisle and gardenias at the end of each pew. There were larger baskets of gardenias at the front and ribbons around the pulpit. Chuck went to the front and turned. Sarah's boss, teams and analysts were seated on Chuck's right. Chuck's dad, his boss, several members from the protective details and the Buy More contingent were on the left.

The procession began, LT and Kristen, followed by Chief and Alice, Eldie and Liz, Tom and Vera, Kayle and Anna, Casey and Mary, Morgan and Ellie. He could see over Ellie, Sarah and her dad were in the door. He watched in amazement as she was more beautiful than he ever saw her before. He was sure the sun coming in the windows only help reflect the beaming brightness that radiated from her.

Sarah took the hand of her father getting out of the van that brought her from the ranch house. He held her hand as they went through the arch of sabers and entered the chapel. It was better than Sarah had imagined. The sun lit the flowers and the room seemed to sparkle. She saw Chuck at the front and began her gleaming smile. _'Okay, walk slowly. He looks so great up there. Everything is so nice. Walk slow. The gardenias go with their dresses. And they look great. And Chuck,' _She smiled to herself,_ 'Casey would say he did good, he made it in one piece. Walk slow. This is great, just what I wanted.'_ She knew to pace the walk to the front and kept reminding herself. She wanted to make it go a little slower and then she was there. It seemed so fast and then her dad was going to his seat.

"And I present Mr. and Mrs. Bartowski. You may now kiss the bride," the chaplain ended.

_A/N Hope you enjoyed. Finally, got them married. This chapter completes Chuck vs Leave of the Plans Series. I do plan on another, but likely a month or so before it starts. Thank you for all of the reviews. Happy 4__th__ of July._


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